BALTIMORE, Md. – Senior Ashleigh Rohrback scored a goal and tied her career high with five assists but No. 16 Loyola (3-4) overcame a 5-3 halftime deficit to edge the No. 17 Tigers (2-4) at a windy and rainy Ridley Athletic Complex on Wednesday night.

After allowing five goals in the first half, the Greyhounds shut down the Tiger offense in the second half, holding Towson to one goal and only two shots. Loyola also forced 10 turnovers.

It marked the third year in a row that the two teams played a one-goal game.

“This game was a grind from start to finish,” said Towson Coach Sonia LaMonica. “These are two teams that were searching to rebound. At the end of the day, one team had to win and it turned out to be Loyola.

“Our players worked so hard and gave it everything they had,” she added. “We didn't always make the smart play or the smart pass. In a low-scoring game like this, all of those plays become more important.”

The Tiger coach explained that in the second half, Loyola “stepped up their off-ball defense. They made it very hard for us to cut through 'the eight.' When Ashleigh was looking to pass, she had trouble finding someone open.”

The Greyhounds, who snapped a four-game losing streak, scored the eventual winning goal with 15:44 remaining when junior Sydney Thomas scored from the right side of the cage off a pass from Taryn VanThof.

From that point on, Loyola did a masterful job of controlling the ball. With less than five minutes to play, goalkeeper Kelsea Donnelly of Towson made a save on a shot by Ali Habicht to give the Tigers a chance to score.

But, Maddy Lesher forced a turnover with just under a minute to play as the Greyhounds clinched the win.

The Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game. Just 35 seconds after Paige Duncan won the draw control, freshman Gabby Cha scored off a pass from Rohrback. With 26:55 left in the half, sophomore Breanna Hamm gave Towson a 2-0 lead when she scored off another pass from Rohrback.

Trailing by 2-0, Loyola came back and scored three consecutive goals. Junior Hannah Schmitt put Loyola on the scoreboard when she scored off a pass from Molly Hulseman just 11 seconds after Hamm's goal. An unassisted goal by Van Thof tied the game with 22:06 remaining in the first half.

Junior Annie Thomas gave the Greyhounds a 3-2 advantage when she scored off another assist by Hulseman with 15:11 remaining.

The Tigers ended 15-minute scoring drought by scoring three goals in 4:09. Cha's second goal of the game tied the score at 3-3 with 11:13 remaining in the half. Rohrback earned her third assist on Cha's goal.

With 10:02 left in the half, Rohrback's fourth assist of the game led to a goal by Taylor Moore, giving the Tigers a 4-3 lead. Just 70 seconds later, Cha tallied her third goal of the contest off another pass from Rohrback to increase the Tigers' lead to 5-3.

At halftime, Towson owned a 5-3 lead. Although Loyola outshot Towson by a 16-15 margin, Donnelly made six saves before intermission, including several impressive saves on point-blank shots.

Early in the second half, the Tigers controlled possession but couldn't add to their lead. Loyola responded with another three-goal run to take 6-5 lead with 22:05 left in the game. Junior Kara Burke ended Loyola's 21-minute drought with a goal off a pass from Thomas. Just 37 seconds later, Hulseman scored the tying goal off a pass from Habicht. With 22:05 remaining, an unassisted goal by Thomas gave Loyola a 6-5 lead.

With 17:30 remaining, Rohrback scored her first goal of the game to tie the contest for the fourth time.

Less than two minutes later, Thomas scored what proved to be the game-winning goal off a pass by Van Thof to put the Greyhounds ahead, 7-6.

Donnelly finished the game with 11 saves as Loyola outshot Towson by a 28-17 margin. Towson also finished with 16 turnovers while Loyola had only 11 turnovers.

While Rohrback led the Tigers with a goal and five assists, Cha scored a career high three goals.

Thomas led Loyola with two goals and one assist.

The Tigers, who have played five consecutive nationally-ranked teams, return to action on Saturday when they host Monmouth at 1:00 p.m.