It appears as though the road is beginning to take its toll on the women’s lacrosse team as the Bulldogs could not construct another comeback victory Wednesday.

Down at halftime for the third game in a row, the Elis never overcame a three goal deficit and eventually fell to No. 14 New Hampshire, 12-4.

After splitting their first two away games south of Yale, the Elis (1-2, 0-0 Ivy) traveled up north to face the Wildcats (3-1) on Wednesday afternoon to get their season back on track. UNH, for its part, was coming off a tough road loss on Saturday to No. 15 Dartmouth (2-0, 0-0).

At the beginning of the game, it seemed as though the Elis would not need to overcome a major deficit at all.

After ten minutes of play, both teams were tied with two goals apiece. The Bulldogs had been outscored, 7-0, in the first seven minutes of their previous two games. Head coach Anne Phillips said it always takes players time to adjust to a new system, but she said her team is showing signs that they are starting to settle in.

Although players said their goal was to be the first to score, it was New Hampshire’s Susie Piotrkowski who claimed the match’s first two goals. But she was quickly matched by midfielder Jenn Warden ’09, who tallied a pair of her own to square the match at two goals apiece. Warden finished the match with three goals on six shots on goal.

The rest of the Elis offense struggled to find the back of the net. Although the score might suggest that the Bulldogs were completely dominated, they had opportunities, but simply could not convert.

“We just did not shoot well,” Phillips said. “That’s difficult when you’re getting good looks at the cage. It’s frustrating.”

The Wildcats followed Warden’s two goals by quickly adding one of their own, and the game remained with the Elis down 3-2 for another ten minutes. Eventually, New Hampshire found the back of the net two more times, and the game went into halftime with the Bulldogs trailing, 5-2.

The second half started with what has become standard for the Bulldogs — defensive adjustments that help the team transition the ball up the field to eventually generate shots on goal.

The Elis were the first team to change the score board in the second half. A goal by Warden brought the team within two. Although the Wildcats scored again, they were answered by attacker Jenna Block ’10. Down 6-4, the Elis were apparently back on track and ready for the rally.

But it never came, and the second half quickly became one sided. For a team that has built its name on coming together at halftime, making adjustments and being more aggressive in the second half, the Elis simply could not climb back into the game.

“We were just not getting the breaks that we wanted,” Warden said. “Ninety percent of the offense was good, but we just couldn’t finish.”

New Hampshire went on a late 6-0 run, squelching any hope of an Eli comeback.

Bulldog goalie Whitney Quackenbush ’12 did her best to stop the Wildcat attack, making nine saves in the net.

“We just made too many unforced errors,” captain and midfielder Taylor Fragapane ’09 said. “Then UNH got some momentum and we could never recover.

The Elis have five games over Spring Break, beginning with a match at Stony Brook on Saturday at 2 p.m.