The Radford women's lacrosse team battled all the way back to make it close late, but the comeback bid fell short in a 12-17 defeat to Campbell at Barker-Lane Stadium on Saturday. Trailing by as many as six in the second half, the Highlanders gave it everything they had to chip away at that deficit. Following a Campbell goal to make it 5-11 with 24:30 left in regulation, Radford scored six of the next seven goals to bring the score all the way to 11-12 with 11:37 on the clock. Sophomore attacker Lindsey Carroll got the rally started, turning a Campbell turnover into a goal thanks to a great ground ball scoop and pass from junior attacker Adrian Rius. Rius then turned into the goal scorer just over a minute later, ending a sequence of sharp Radford passes with a rocket past the goalie. The Camels managed to answer, but the junior quartet of Callie Bonnel, Juliette Ruland, Emma Rogers and Rius combined to score four straight goals in a nine-minute stretch. The comeback wasn't meant to be, however, as the Camels found the back of the net five times in the final eight minutes to secure the win. Ruland claimed the very first goal of the game, using her height to shoot over a defender with 23:57 to go in the first half. Campbell rebounded and managed to control the tempo for the rest of the period, taking a 9-4 lead into halftime. Ruland led the Highlanders with a season-high four goals, topping the three goals she scored at St. Francis (Pa.) in the 2018 season opener. Rius was just behind with three goals while Carroll contributed two of her own. Mackenzie Koeller and Melissa Placek combined for 11 of Campbell's 17 goals on the day and Kayla Reilly was the main provider with six assists. Goalkeepers were strong in the cage for both teams. Junior Hannah Rosen made 12 saves in her first start of the season, giving her double-digit saves in back-to-back games. Sydney Etheridge had 10 saves of her own including six on Radford free position shots. INSIDE THE BOX SCORE Reigning Big South Freshman of the Week Jennifer Shield scored her 10th goal of the season Neither team did well on free position shots. Radford was 3-for-10 and Campbell was 2-for-8 thanks to strong goalie play The Highlanders earned a 19-16 advantage on ground balls Radford was great on clear attempts, succeeding on 17-of-18 Sophomore defender Shea Swingle was strong on the back line, picking up four ground balls and forcing three turnovers The Camels kept the pressure on Radford's defense, taking a 37-27 lead in shots taken AROUND THE BIG SOUTH Presbyterian at Longwood – 1 p.m. Winthrop at Liberty – 3 p.m. Gardner-Webb at High Point – 3 p.m. UP NEXT Radford returns to the New River Valley on Wednesday, April 18 at 6 p.m. to take on Commonwealth rival, Liberty The Flames are 10-4 overall including a 3-1 mark in conference play to sit third in the Big South standings They will host Winthrop this Saturday at 3 p.m.