BLOOMINGTON, Il. - The Calvin women's lacrosse team dropped a hard-fought 8-7 decision to a talented Illinois Wesleyan squad Saturday afternoon.

Calvin (3-4) outshot the host Titans (10-1) by a 23-16 margin but could not come up with the equalizing goal inside the final seven minutes of play.

Calvin led on two separate moments in the first half, taking a 1-0 lead on a goal by freshman Emma Tilma (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) in the opening minute of the game and then grabbed a 4-3 lead on another Tilma goal with 7:33 left in the first half. Illinois Wesleyan tied the game 4-4 on a goal with 5:33 left in the first half and then dodged three Calvin shots in the closing minutes of the half including a shot by Tilma that hit the post with 2:25 remaining.

Sophomore Amanda Davio (Okemos/Okemos HS) scored three-and-a-half minutes into the second half to put the Knights up 5-4 but Illinois Wesleyan scored back-to-back goals to take a 6-5 lead and never trailed again.

Calvin came back to tie the 6-6 on a goal by junior Emily Cefaratti (Hinsdale, Il./Hinsdale Central HS) midway through the half but then fell behind 8-6.

Cefaratti scored on a free-position shot with 7:13 remaining to bring the Knights within one but the goal remained shut from that point on.

Calvin had four shots inside the final seven minutes including a free-position attempt with 33 seconds remaining but Illinois Wesleyan goalie Claire Quist was up to the task, making a clutch save to keep the Titans on top and seal the win.

"Illinois Wesleyan is a great team with strong coaching and talented athletes," said Calvin women's lacrosse coach Blake Boehm. "I'm proud of our fight today. We had low numbers (of players) available but everyone came ready to play. We just fell short a bit with execution. We need to be better with our shot placement and decision making."

Cefaratti had three goals and an assist to lead Calvin's scoring attack while Tilma had two goals. Davio and sophomore Madeline Baas (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) had Calvin's other two goals while freshman Lauryn Slachter had an assist.

Baas won three ground controls while freshman Sky Gyuro (Warwick, NY/Storm King School) had three ground balls. Freshman goalie Ellis Chalfant (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis Country Day School) had four saves for Calvin.

As a team, Calvin had 20 turnovers while Illinois Wesleyan had 27.

Calvin will now prepare for its MIAA opener on Wednesday at Calvin's Zuidema Field at 4 p.m.