ASHLAND, Ohio - McKendree University women's lacrosse (4-5) played three games over spring break week, snapping a five-game losing streak in the road trip finale at Ashland. The Bearcats dropped the first two games of the week at Lincoln Memorial, 12-11, and at Walsh, 17-8. McKendree concludes in non-conference slate with a home matchup against the Wildcats of Northern Michigan on Saturday, March 25, at 2PM at Leemon Field.
March 12 @ Lincoln Memorial
The Bearcats looked to knock out the Rail Splitters in their first Spring Break game on Sunday afternoon, attempting to get back in the win column after three-straight losses.
McKendree and LMU went back and forth throughout the game as the Bearcats led after the first quarter, 3-2. LMU scored first just over a minute into the contest, taking a 1-0 lead. Freshman attacker
Jayna Barnden scored first for McKendree with an unassisted goal at the 6:15 mark, which tied the game at 1-1. LMU went back a minute after Barnden scored with another goal, taking a 2-1 advantage. Sophomore attacker
Jenna Sugarman put up the Bearcats' second score with 2:05 remaining in the quarter, tying the game. A minute after her first goal of the game, Sugarman then scored another unassisted goal to push McKendree to a 3-2 lead.
LMU took the lead, 5-3, in the second quarter with three-straight goals at the 12:17, 9:58, and 9:40 marks. The Bearcats added back-to-back goals themselves to tie it after losing the lead as graduate attacker
Kat Albrecht scored her first at 8:46 and Sugarman fired her third with 5:27 remaining. Both LMU and McKendree scored one more to close out the half as Barnden scored her second of the day.
In the opening minutes of the second half, McKendree regained the lead, 7-6, with a third Barnden goal. LMU tied is shortly after but McKendree fired back as Albrecht scored again at the 10:11 mark to lead 8-7. McKendree led 9-8 to end the third period and took an 11-9 lead in the latter half of the fourth quarter. Junior defender
Molly Grant fired the first McKendree Goal of the fourth quarter while junior defender
Olivia Julian fired the final Bearcat goal of the day.
Lincoln Memorial found themselves playing a man-up on the final minute after tying the game at 11. The Rail Splitters scored a game-winner with 23 second left on the clock to take the contest, 12-11.
Clara Andrews grabbed 11 saves in the game while holding net for full time. Four Bearcats fired multiple goals with Barnden and Sugarman each scoring three while Julian and Albrecht fired two a piece.
March 14 @ Walsh
McKendree continued its spring break road trip with a matchup at Walsh on Tuesday afternoon. The Bearcats once again looked to snap a losing streak in the contest.
The Bearcats and Cavaliers were knotted at 1-1 early on in the game as Julian fired a score at the 11:28 mark. Walsh went on to score five more in the quarter, holding a 6-1 advantage at the conclusion of the first period of play.
Albrecht scored with just over 10 minutes left in the second quarter, cutting the deficit to four goals but Walsh fired two more scores in response. McKendree trailed 8-2. ALbrecht added another with six minutes left but the Cavaliers found two more again, holding a 10-3 advantage. Albrecht and Julian put together four-straight goals to end the first half and begin the second, making it a 10-7 contest.
Walsh kept up its pressure with two more goals to lead 12-7 before Barnden got in on the attack in the fourth to cut it to four goals, 12-8.
The Cavaliers managed five-straight to close out the game and take the outing, 17-8.
Andrews nabbed 13 saves during full-time in net. Albrecht tallied five goals while Julian totaled two.
March 16 @ Ashland
McKendree entered its spring break finale with a five-game skid and fought to break the streak against the Eagles. The Bearcats handled Ashland via a 12-4 final score as Barnden and Albrecht tallied four goals each during the contest.
McKendree and Ashland battled in the first quarter with the Eagles taking a 2-1 lead into the second period. Albrecht scored the first and lone goal of the first 15 minutes for McKendree.
In the second quarter, the Bearcats scored two before the Eagles tied it up with just over five minutes remaining in the period. First, Albrecht added her second unassisted goal of the game while Barnden fired her first score of the Thursday outing. With three and a half minutes in the second quarter, McKendree was put on top in the game, 5-3, by Barnden back-to-back goals. She added one unassisted while the leading goal came off a dish-out by Julian.
The Bearcats led 5-3 at the halftime intermission.
McKendree came back in the second half allowing just one goal to the Eagles while scoring seven of their own. Sugarman fired the two Bearcat goals in the third period, both unassisted, while Albrecht, Barnden, and Julian each had at least one in the fourth quarter.
Andrews went full-time in the net for McKendree, corralling nine saves in the victory.
UP NEXT
McKendree women's lacrosse will be back at home for its next game, hosting Northern Michigan on March 25 at 2PM at Leemon Field in Lebanon, Illinois.
