Williamsburg, VA – The Hofstra Women's Lacrosse team gave top-seeded Towson all it could handle before dropping a heartbreaking 6-5 decision to the Tigers in the semifinals of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship on Friday evening at Martin Family Stadium on the campus of the College of William & Mary.

With the loss Hofstra ends its 2014 campaign with a record of 8-10, while Towson improves to 10-7 and will meet either James Madison or Delaware in Sunday's championship game.

Hofstra had five different goal scorers in the contest and seven different players recorded at least a point in the game for the fourth-seeded Pride.

Junior attacker Brittain Altomare had a goal to record a point for the 37th straight game dating back to the start of her sophomore campaign. Altomare also added a pair of draw controls and a ground ball and a caused turnover. Junior attacker April Iannetta, the two-time defending CAA Defensive Player of the Year, had three draw controls, two ground balls and a goal.

The exact scenario that played out the first time these two teams met played out in the postseason as the game was knotted at two at halftime.

It was a defensive battle early on as neither team was able to find the back of the net for the first 13-plus minutes until Kelly Murkey broke the scoreless tie with a free-position goal at the 16:34 mark.

Towson would add another tally with 15:12 showing on the clock to make it 2-0 in favor of the top-seeded Tigers.

Hofstra would finally get on the board as senior attacker Julia Riemer scored an unassisted goal with 8:21 on the clock to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Pride would then carry some momentum into the break as freshman midfielder Erika Neumen scored off an assist from senior attacker Lindsay McKinnon with 17 seconds left before the intermission to even the score at two.

Neither squad held much of a statistical advantage in the opening 30 minutes as Hofstra outshot Towson, 7-6, and held a 10-9 advantage in ground balls.

The second stanza was another tight battle with Towson opening the scoring at the 28:38 mark courtesy of a goal from Andi Raymond. Altomare would finally get on the board as she knotted the score at three with 27:51 left in regulation.

Towson looked to take control later in the half as Raymond and Colby Unkle each scored to make it 5-3 with 16:56 to play.

Hofstra would have one final run left in them, though, as Iannetta scored a free-position goal with 4:26 to play to make it 5-4 Towson.

With the clock winding down and Hofstra needing another goal to even the score, senior midfielder Jenn Ward beat the Towson goalie with 38 ticks left on the clock to even the game up at five.

The game appeared to be headed to overtime, but Towson had other ideas as Raymond would prove to be the hero on the day as she scored the game-winner with just eight seconds remaining to second the Tigers to the conference title game.

Senior defender Emily Corzel had an outstanding game in her final game in a Pride uniform with two caused turnovers and two ground balls. Sophomore defender Shelby Milne had three ground balls for the Pride.

Junior goalie Kelsey Gregerson had eight saves for the Pride, while also picking up five ground balls and adding two caused turnovers.

Kelsea Donnelly had six saves and four ground balls for Towson, while Raymond had three goals and Ashleigh Rohrback dished out a game-high three assists.

Gregerson and Iannetta earned all-tournament honors for their efforts in the semifinals.