LAKEWOOD, N.J.- Caldwell University women's lacrosse freshman Arden Kassaleh (Pompton Plains, N.J.) netted a pair of goals but the Cougars fell in their conference opener 15-4 to Georgian Court University.
 
The Cougars fall to 1-2 on the season and 0-1 in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. The Lions improve to 2-6 and 1-0 in conference play.
 
Caldwell took the early lead at Kassaleh scored five minutes into the game. Georgian Court tied the score four minutes later.
 
Junior Pamela Schenck (East Moriches, N.Y.) put the Cougars back in the lead at 2-1 with a goal at the 20:14 mark of the opening half. Georgian Court tied the score at two with 15:36 remaining in the half. The Lions added four more goals as they led 6-2 at halftime.
 
Kassaleh netted her second goal of the game early in the second half to cut the score to 6-3. Georgian Court answered with five goals over a three-minute stretch to pull ahead 11-3. Sophomore Maryellen McCarthy (Levittown, N.Y.) netted her first goal of the season at the 19:08 mark of the second half for the final Caldwell goal of the game.
 
In net, sophomore Elizabeth Ruedemann (Monmouth Junction, N.J.) recorded 15 saves in the loss in 53+ minutes. Sophomore Nancy Benedetto (Jupiter, Fla.) closed out the game in net for the Cougars.
 
The Cougars welcomes the University of the District of Columbia for their home opener on Thursday, March 23 at 4 pm at Essex Valley School in West Caldwell.