AKRON, Ohio – In its program debut, the Youngstown State women's lacrosse team dropped a nail biter to Mid-American Conference-foe Akron, falling 12-11.

Callie Vaudry highlighted the Penguins' effort netting four goals on seven shots while recording an assist.

Senior goalie Elicia Wells added 13 saves – seven in the first half, six in the second.

YSU, as a team, forced 34 shots on goal en route to 11 goals on the day. Six Penguins contributed to the goal-scoring (Callie Vaudry, Lauren Ottensmeyer, Jordan Miller, Emma Carter, Abby Yesko, Taylor Jones) with Vaudry (4), Ottensmeyer (2) and Miller (2) having multiple-goal outings.

Akron won key ground ball battles (23-7) and draw controls down the stretch (11-7). 

Finding themselves in a 3-0 deficit in the first five minutes of the first half, the Penguins rattled off three unanswered goals to even the game at three goals apiece.  

Taylor Jones scored an unassisted goal with 21:27 on the clock to get YSU on the scoreboard – the program's first goal. Just 17-ticks later, Lauren Ottensmeyer strikes again for the Guins, scoring unassisted. Following an eight-minute scoreless drought on both sides, Jordan Miller added a goal of her own, assisted by Callie Vaudry with 12:45 on the clock.

Akron jumped back out to a one-goal lead at the 8:15 mark in the first half.

Callie Vaudry scored the first of her four unassisted goals on the afternoon with 6:21 left in the half, locking the score back up at four goals per team. Four minutes later (2:33), she added her second to give the Penguins their first lead of the contest. YSU took the 5-4 advantage into the halftime locker room.

Following a two-goal, second half surge from Akron out of the break, Lauren Ottensmeyer notched her second goal of the game with 25:21 to go, evening the score at six all. The Zips retook a 7-6 lead at the 23:14 mark with a goal of their own.

Jordan Miller netted her second goal of the game with 16:36 remaining. With the goal, she became the third Penguin to have multiple goals on the day.

Following an Akron timeout, the Zips scored three unanswered goals to take a 10-7 lead– their biggest of the game. Rallying back, the Guins put together a two-goal run to bring the game to 10-9 following scores by Abby Yesko (9:19) and Callie Vaudry – her third of the day (7:47).

After the Zips extended their lead back to two with 6:43 remaining, Callie Vaudry found the back of the net for the fourth time, bringing the back-and-forth contest to 11-10.

The two teams each added another goal before the clock hit zeros, bringing the final score to 12-11 in favor Akron. The Penguins' goal was attributed to Emma Carter, who scored on a free-position shot with 40 seconds left.

Youngstown State is back in action March 13 against Detroit Mercy. First draw is scheduled for Noon.

For news and updates throughout the season, follow @YSUwlax on Twitter.