(Lebanon, Ill., April 2) -- The McKendree University women's lacrosse team improved to 5-4 overall and 1-0 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) as they rolled past Northern Michigan University 20-1 this afternoon.

McKendree set the tone early as Victoria Lelo (Auckland, New Zealand/Westlake) netted her first goal two minutes into the game. The Bearcats then went on an 11-0 run before Northern Michigan would strike.
Shelby Klotz would score a man up goal for the Wildcats to cut the lead to 11-1. McKendree answered back with nine more goals to finish strong with a 20-1 victory.

Paige Salthouse (St. Louis, MO/Ursuline Academy) lead the way offensively for the Bearcats tallying five goals on the day going 2-3 on free position attempts. Lelo followed with four while Ola Abdallah (Florissant, MO/Hazelwood West), Bree Suter (Westminster, MD/Winters Mill), and Mia Fiore (Eureka, MO/Eureka High School) contributed two in the team effort.

Abdallah paved the way for the offense controlling the midfield with five groundballs. Hannah Sugarman (Holden, MA/Wachusett Regional ) and Lelo added three as McKendree held the advantage 18-10.

Amy Porta (Ellisville, MO/Marquette) (5-4) picks up the win in cage collecting one save. Collin Patton (Wildwood, MO/Eureka) collected two saves in the final 13:26 of the second period.

The women's lacrosse team is back in action next weekend as it travels to Ohio for a conference matchup with Walsh University on Friday, April 7 at 5 p.m. ET and Lake Erie College on Sunday, April 9 at noon ET.