(LEBANON, Ill., April 8)—The McKendree University women's lacrosse team registered a season-high in goals scored in a 23-9 victory Sunday afternoon at home against Northern Michigan University.
 
The Bearcats used a run of seven consecutive goals in the first half to take the lead for good, then had a burst of eight unanswered tallies late in the period on its way to a 17-5 lead at the intermission. McKendree has won its last two contests to improve to 4-8 on the season and 3-4 in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. The Bearcats will be home again on Friday to host Tiffin University in a key GLIAC match-up. First draw will take place at 4 p.m.
 
McKendree had several offensive standouts during the win over Northern Michigan on Sunday. Senior attacker Dana DiPasquale (St. Charles, MO/Barat Academy) led the way with nine total points, including four goals and five assists. DiPasquale also recorded 12 ground balls and four caused turnovers. Junior attacker Emily Nelson (Deephaven, MN/Holy Family Catholic) netted five goals against the Wildcats to go along with three assists for eight points on the day. Nelson also had a game-high eight draw controls. Freshman midfielder Rylee Skachenko (Oceanside, CA/Carlsbad) matched Nelson with five goals and finished with seven points.
 
Senior attacker Mia Fiore (Eureka, MO/Eureka High School) helped out with four goals and six draw controls, and senior attacker Paige Salthouse (St. Louis, MO/Ursuline Academy) notched three goals in the contest. Junior midfielder Hannah Sugarman (Holden, MA/Wachusett Regional) scored twice for the Bearcats while adding six ground balls and four caused turnovers.
 
Northern Michigan (1-9, 0-7 GLIAC) scored twice in the first 90 seconds to grab an early 2-0 lead. Salthouse and Nelson quickly tied the contest by scoring twice in a 22-second span before the Wildcats answered five minutes into play to regain a 3-2 advantage.
 
Skachenko netted her first goal of the afternoon a little less than six minutes into action to help the Bearcats draw even at 3-3. Nelson then scored back-to-back goals to put McKendree in front to stay as the hosts recorded four more unanswered goals to close out their 7-0 run, giving the Bearcats a 9-3 cushion with 16 minutes remaining until halftime.
 
Following a Northern Michigan tally, McKendree went back to work by scoring eight straight goals over a 10-minute span in the later stages of the opening period to stretch its margin to 17-4. Fiore collected three of her four goals during the burst, while Skachenko added two.
 
After leading 17-5 at the half, McKendree outscored the Wildcats 6-4 over the final 30 minutes of play to earn the victory. For the contest, the Bearcats held a 49-13 edge in shots while forcing 23 turnovers by the visitors. The 23 goals scored by McKendree topped the previous season-high that came in a 22-10 triumph against Davenport University back on March 23 at Leemon Field.

Sophomore Collin Patton (Wildwood, MO/Eureka) played just over 46 minutes in goal and recorded her fourth victory of the season for McKendree.