LEBANON, Ill. - McKendree University women's lacrosse (1-0) marked its first win over a top-25 ranked opponent since the 2018 season on Sunday afternoon, defeating No.24 Davenport on a 12-9 final score. The Bearcats were led by three multi-goal scorers as graduate attacker
Kat Albrecht fired five goals in the contest. The victory over the Panthers was also the first win in the tenure of first-year head coach
Natalie Simpson, who took over the program in the fall of 2022.
Albrecht, a staple in the attack of the Bearcats, had a presence throughout the contest as she totaled six points on five goals and one dish-out. She fired 10 shots on the day with eight on frame. The other two multi-goal scorers were junior midfielder
Olivia Julian and freshman midfielder
Jayna Barnden, who collected three goals a piece for three points a piece. Julian went 3 of 3 on shots in the game with a 2/2 mark on free position shots. Barnden fired five shots on goal with her three-point total. Sophomore attacker
Jenna Sugarman was the fourth and final scorer for McKendree with her one score on six on-frame shot attempts.
In the net, graduate keeper
Clara Andrews amassed 18 saves for the win. The outing was her 19th career game with double-digit saves and third-straight, dating back to last season.
McKendree went down one goal early in the first quarter on an unassisted DU score but came back ferociously, firing the next four scores. Sugarman fired hers to knot the game up in the second minute of the quarter, 1-1. Julian then put up her first goal at the 11:44 mark with an assist by junior attacker
Riley Bishop, putting the Bearcats up, 2-1. Less than 30 seconds later, Albrecht added her first score of the outing at the 11:21 mark. McKendree held a 3-1 advantage until Julian scored her second goal with just under five minutes remaining.
The second quarter was null on scoring until the halfway point when Davenport added its second goal to cut the Bearcats lead down, 4-2. McKendree responded with a flurry of unassisted goals between the 5:30 and 3:00 mark with Albrecht scoring the first and third while Julian added her third of the game. The Panthers added one more when a man-up on the Bearcats, making it a 7-3 contest.
In the third quarter, the freshman Barnden went to work early on with two goals in the first seven minutes. The 13:34 score was her first collegiate lacrosse goal. Albrecht dished-out the assist for Barnden's second goal. With 6:28 left in the third, Albrecht then scored her fourth goal of the day to make it 10-3. Both Barnden and Albrecht scored another in the latter minutes of the third period as McKendree responded to a pair of DU goals. The third quarter ended with a 12-6 lead in favor the the Bearcats.
Davenport fought to make a late comeback but fell short with three goals in the fourth quarter. McKendree held on for the 12-9 win.
Scoring
Q1 | #18
Jenna Sugarman, unassisted
Q1 | #6
Olivia Julian via #4
Riley Bishop
Q1 | #2
Kat Albrecht, unassisted
Q1 | #6
Olivia Julian, unassisted
Q2 | #2
Kat Albrecht, unassisted
Q2 | #6
Olivia Julian, unassisted
Q2 | #2
Kat Albrecht, unassisted
Q3 | #5
Jayna Barnden, unassisted
Q3 | #5
Jayna Barnden via #2
Kat Albrecht
Q3 | #2
Kat Albrecht, unassisted
Q3 | #5
Jayna Barnden, via #1
Molly Grant
Q3 | #2
Kat Albrecht, unassisted
UP NEXT
McKendree women's lacrosse hosts three-straight home contests against Findlay on February 17 at 2PM, Tiffin on February 19 at 1PM, and Concordia-St. Paul on February 24 at 3PM.
