PUEBLO, Colo. – The women's lacrosse team took care of business in easy fashion in a 15-2 decisive effort against Fort Lewis College on Tuesday, March 10th at the Art and Lorraine Gonzales Stadium in Pueblo, Colorado.
Score: McKendree University 15, Fort Lewis College 2
Record: Bearcats 5-1, 0-0 GLVC | Skyhawks 0-2, 0-0 RMAC
HOW IT HAPPENED
A minute and 16 seconds into the game, junior Lexi Macleod (Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada) put up the first points on the board with senior attacker Jayna Barnden helping the midfielder out with the assist. Fort Lewis fired in a goal to respond 86 second subsequently after to tie the game up at one apiece before Barnden captured her first goal later in the initial quarter.
After a scoreless second period by both teams, McKendree did not look back, as the team rallied in seven consecutive shots to make it eight straight for the Bearcats to lead comfortably 9-1. Sophomore attacker Ariyah LaFrance (Akwesasne, N.Y.) contributed three goals in the spurt for a hat-trick day, as Barnden chipped in three more as well for her total to earn herself the hat-trick. Sophomore midfielder Elle Garriock (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) was in on the lone other goal within that span.
The Skyhawks were able to stop the bleeding momentarily with 1:30 left to go in the third quarter of action to cut the deficit to a large seven. Yet as the two squads headed into the final period of regulation, the Bearcats put all to rest, as Barnden capitalized on a fifth scoring possession as Macleod got on the hat-trick train with two more in the 5-0 team run to close out the game. Freshman midfielder Dom Neville (San Mateo, Calif.) snuck in the ball through the posts with one second remaining in the contest to pull out a 15-2 team victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Barnden chipped in a season-high five goal with one assist added, as she did so on 10 shot attempts overall and nine on the goal. She also collected a career-high-tying six ground balls.
• LaFrance and Macleod each contributed three goals and one assist on the day, with the former picking a pair of ground balls and draw controls, with the latter having three draw controls and a caused turnover.
• Junior goalkeeper Amber Hayden (Woburn, Mass.) played all 60:00 minutes in the net and finished with 14 saves on an 87.5 save percentage to go with two caused turnovers and one ground ball.
• McKendree outshot Fort Lewis 37-23 overall and 27-14 on the goal.
• The Bearcats were 23-for-26 (88.5%) on clear attempts, making it their seson-high in successful attempts, and the most since 24 against Concordia University, St. Paul on March 24th, 2019.
• McKendree had the advantage on draw controls (11-7).
• The team tied the most caused turnovers collectively all season with 14.
UP NEXT
McKendree will be back in action for their final game of their Colorado trip, as they take on the ThunderWolves of Colorado State University Pueblo on Thursday, March 12th at 5:00 PM CT start at the Art and Lorraine Gonzales Stadium.
The game will be streamed live or on-demand on the RMAC Network with a subscription/download purchase required, as live stats will also be provided to the public. Tickets can be found HERE.
Make sure to keep up with McKendree University Women's Lacrosse on Facebook, X (Twitter), and Instagram. #GLVCwlax | #D2lax
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