Franklin women's lacrosse needed a victory at rival Hanover on Saturday afternoon to extend its season into the HCLC tournament.

The Grizzlies fought back valiantly from as many as seven goals down, but their late charge ultimately came up short in a 12-9 defeat.

With the loss, Franklin ends its season with a 2-8 overall record and a 0-3 mark in the conference.

"The girls played their absolute hearts out," Griz coach Morgan Krause said. "I couldn't be more proud of this group, especially all the adversity they have had coming into the season. They had a coach quit on them midyear. They had a coach come into this program who has litterally never coached lacrosse in her life — a.k.a. me. And they still bought into everything that myself and Chloe (May) said. They've just been so supportive of each other and grown so much as not only a program but as individuals."

Aubrey Small gave Franklin the lead with a goal just 77 seconds into the action, but the Panthers seized momentum by scoring the next six goals and took an 8-3 lead into the half. Hanover then padded that advantage with the first two goals of the third quarter before the Grizzlies charged back, getting two goals from Addie Whitman and one from senior defender Maddie Cary — the first of her collegiate career — to cut it to 10-6.

Back down by six with 12:59 remaining in the match, the Griz rallied yet again. Whitman tallied a man-up goal at the 9:40 mark, and goals by Abby Moore and Whitman made it a three-goal game with 3:11 to go.

The Grizzlies, however, couldn't get any closer despite a 23-13 advantage in shots on goal. Hanover netminder Emma Williams made a whopping 18 saves to keep the visitors at bay.

"We had so many shots on goal," Krause said. "We just couldn't get it through."

Though the team lost its final five matches, Krause was proud of the fight the team showed in playing with a minimal amount of bench players available throughout the season, and she's excited to see what the future brings.

"Really proud of this group," she said, "and I'm really excited to actually work with them all year for next season."