GEORGETOWN, Texas  Whitman's furious rally in the final minutes fell one goal short Friday in the women's lacrosse season opener at Southwestern (Texas) University. The Blues scored four goals in the final 2 minutes and 14 seconds but the host Pirates escaped with an 11-10 non-conference win when the tying goal was waived off due to a penalty with 1.4 seconds left on the clock.

The Whitman (0-1) attack was led by Nina Moore, in her first collegiate game, who notched a game-high five points from a three-goal, two-assist afternoon, and returning first team all-conference performer Lindsay Schwartz who added three goals herself while also adding an assist on Moore's first goal.

Emma Albin and Johnee Wolter paced Southwestern (1-0) with three goals each on their home turf at Varsity Fields.

The Blues weren't able to get the start to the season they'd certainly planned for as the Pirates netted the first five goals of the game, putting Whitman deep in a hole that eventually proved fatal.

Unanswered goals from Anna Melville, Olivia Engle and Mary Noyes finally kick-started the attack, however. The trio combined to beat Southwestern goalkeeper Jordan Little in a span of 2:24 to lift the Blues back into the game.

Considering how the game opened, Whitman's 7-4 halftime deficit was a welcome relief despite the Pirates' three-goal advantage.

Less than one minute into the second half Moore, from Schwartz, scored her first collegiate goal to narrow the deficit even further. But Southwestern answered back with their own three-goal run to seemingly gain the upper hand with 23 minutes remaining.

A goal from Moore and then one from Albin pushed the score to 11-6, leaving the hill Whitman needed to climb one that would need to be traversed in less than 10 minutes.

Seven minutes later it was still the same score, but that would quickly change.

With 2:14 remaining Moore would beat Little on a free-position shot. Schwartz would win the ensuing draw control which evolved into another free-position chance, this one buried into the back of the net by Abbey Dias for her first collegiate score.

Southwestern, with its lead now down to three, called timeout but the sideline chat didn't seem to matter as Moore came up with the next draw control. As the clock wound down past the minute mark Schwartz was able to find a shooting lane and snapped off a shot to beat Little again, inching the Blues to within two.

Clutch again at the dot, Schwartz came up with the next draw control and forced a foul in close, resulting in a free-position goal with 10 seconds remaining.

Again Schwartz won the following draw control and raced down field. With four seconds remaining a foul and yellow card was called on Southwestern's Allison Cook which opened up the path in front of Schwartz, though she was still 30 yards out. On the whistle she took a few steps, found Ellie Teare at the edge of the fan where she turned and ripped a shot into the back of the net. However her follow-through was correctly called a foul with the referee waiving off the tying goal.

Nonetheless, the rally -- including Teare's clutch move to find space to not only receive the pass but also quickly get off her shot -- gives the Blues momentum heading into the season, and their next game Saturday at Varsity Fields in a neutral-site matchup against Occidental (Calif.) College.