The Dominican University softball team saw their 2016 season draw to a close on Friday afternoon, falling to the Concordia University Chicago Cougars 7-6 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament.  With the loss, the Stars finish the season with a 26-15 overall mark.
 
Trailing 7-2 heading to the bottom of the seventh, Dominican capped a four-run rally when Alyssa Domico (Naperville, Ill.) singled to center with two outs and the bases loaded, scoring Sara Hausl (St. Charles, Ill.) and Gabby Curran (Elmhurst, Ill.) while Marissa Burns (Shorewood, Ill.), the potential tying run, went from first to third.  With the Cougars walking back to the circle, Burns tried to catch the Cougars napping and broke for the plate but got caught in a run down between third and home before she stumbled and was tagged for the final out.
 
Freshman Sydney Kuderna (Naperville, Ill.) took the loss, her second straight loss, falling to 14-4 on the season.  The rookie left-hander lasted just 1.2 innings, allowing four runs on six hits and a walk.
 
Offensively, the Stars had managed just two hits through the first six innings before freshman Gabi Alfaro (Aurora, Ill.) sparked the four-run, five-hit rally in the bottom of the seventh when she singled to lead off the frame.  Armani Procter (Chicago, Ill.) followed with a line-drive single to center before Curran loaded the bases an out later with a single to left.  Hausl then pulled the Stars within 7-3 with a single through the right side of the infield before Burns was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 7-4.  After Ali Woitovich (Downers Grove, Ill.) popped out to second, Domico collected her second hit of the game when the junior took the first pitch of the at-bat back up the middle.