GREENWOOD – Competing on the second weekend in the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship for the first time in program history, the No. 5 seed Lander women's soccer team left a valiant effort on the field in a 1-0 loss to No. 6 seed Lenoir-Rhyne at Van Taylor Stadium Sunday afternoon.

Lander closes the season with a new program high-water-mark of 14 wins while finishing second in the Peach Belt Conference with eight victories during the regular season.

Trailing 1-0 at halftime, the Bearcats put four shots on target during the second half and nearly had more late-game heroics from freshman Grace Benson in the 88th minute.

Evelyn Wright threw the ball in to Claire Regnault on the right half of the pitch before Regnault played it back to her. Wright then delivered a cross into the box that Darcy Ahern was the first to get a head on.

Benson tried burying a left-footed rebound from point-blank range but was denied spectacularly by a Lenoir-Rhyne (13-4-3) defender.

Langley Stewart had a chance on a 77th-minute corner kick but couldn't place her header out of the reach of Bears keeper Riley Miller, who stopped all six shots that came her way this afternoon.

Ahern also fired a 25-yard shot on target that was snagged in the 70th minute.

Katherine Blain headed Peyton Bibbee's pass into the back of the net with six-plus minutes left in the first half but was flagged for being offsides.

A post-game press conference featuring Lander Women's Soccer Head Coach Chris Ayer and senior defender Lucy Bova can be watched here.