Tiffin University (1-10) played strong for the first 35 minutes but watched their lead disappear over the second half, eventually falling to Grand Valley State in their closest game of the year 13-12.
TU held a 6-4 lead at the half and added two quick goals at the start of the second half to take a 8-4 lead. The two goals at the start of the half marked five unanswered goals by the Dragons and seemed to have the team pointed in the right direction.
Grand Valley bounced back, however, scoring five of the next six goals over the next 8:00 to tie the score at 9-9.
After Grand Valley netted two more goals to take a 11-9 lead, Alexandria Quast scored two of her 8 goals in the game to once again tie the score at 11-11.
The Lakers again responded quickly, scoring two goals within a minute of each other to jump ahead 13-11 with 9:00 to play. Quast added another goal on a pass from Alexis MacMillan with 6:00 left, but the Dragons could not get another goal to send the game into overtime. MacMillan got a pass in front of the net with 30 seconds remaining, but her shot went just wide.
Grand Valley State held a 34-20 shot advantage and controlled the draws 19-8, while Tiffin hustled to a 26-11 ground ball edge.
Quast led the way with 8 goals, 1 assist, 7 ground balls, and 4 draws and also converted 5 of 6 free position opportunities. Elyse Braun had 2 goals and an assist, while MacMillan had 3 assists. Kaitlin Clarke and Kelley Miller also had goals.
Jessica Bombard took the loss in goal, making 16 saves over 60 minutes.