WASHINGTON, D.C. – Susquehanna women's lacrosse's memorable season met its untimely end Thursday night, as the third-seeded River Hawks traveled to number two seed Catholic, falling to the Cardinals by a 16-1 score. CUA raced out to a 5-0 lead before Allie Kutler interrupted with Susquehanna's lone goal of the day in the second quarter as the River Hawks completed their season at 13-6.

Goalie Aerin O'Brien began the day saving two of the Cardinals' opening shots. But the Cardinals broke through after seizing on a failed Susquehanna clear attempt to offer up Charlotte Spaulding a scoring chance that she capitalized on with 11:26 left in the first. The River Hawks hunkered down to keep it a one-goal game for the next six minutes, with O'Brien gathering another save to keep it so. That changed when Catholic was given a free position opportunity, setting Mattea Del Peschio up for the two-goal lead. Shortly after the Cardinals seized on another failed clear to make it 3-0, again from Del Peschio, they won the ensuing draw control that set up another Del Peschio score for her third of the day and a 4-0 lead after one.

After another CUA free position score made it 5-0 to start the second, O'Brien saved another shot, leading to Kutler getting Susquehanna back in the game with an unassisted score with 11:31 remaining in the half. Catholic then went on a run, scoring seven unanswered to end the half leading 12-1, followed by adding two more goals in the third and fourth quarter. The Cardinals finished the night with a 36-9 lead in shots, including 29-7 in shots on goal. 

Susquehanna completed its best-ever season under seventh-year head coach Randall Swope, picking up the program's highest season wins total since their 2013 Landmark Championship season that finished 17-1. Perhaps the biggest highlight of the season was the River Hawks earning their first win over Scranton since 2016 with a thrilling 9-8 overtime victory, marking their second win of the season in overtime after defeating regional power Rowan back on Mar. 9 by a 10-9 score. The win over Scranton slotted Susquehanna into the three seed of the Landmark Tournament, defeating sixth-seed Moravian in Tuesday's quarterfinals by a 13-12 score, exacting revenge on the Greyhounds after late March's regular season matchup and the team's first win over Moravian since 2017. 

The program also sends off a talented senior class that etched their marks in the record books. Heather Riefenhauser finished her career with 195 points on 106 goals and 89 assists, good for fifth all-time in career points. Kelsey Homberg finished with 147 points on 115 goals and 32 assists, ranking tenth all-time in career goals. Hannah McNamara concluded her career with 117 points on 93 goals and 24 assists, while Madi Mitchell finished with 87 caused turnovers and 111 ground balls, adding 24 points on 21 goals and three assists. Caitlin Harvey netted 80 points for her career on 65 goals and 15 assists, while Liz Hordesky reached 100 career ground balls with 101.