PUEBLO, Colo. – The women's lacrosse team struggled in the first 14 minutes of play against Colorado State University Pueblo, but showed their dominance on both ends of the field for the rest of the match, holding the TunderWolves scoreless the rest of the way to a 17-7 victory on Thursday, March 12th at the Art and Lorraine Gonzales Stadium in Pueblo, Colorado.
Score: McKendree University 17, Colorado State University Pueblo 7
Record: Bearcats 6-1, 0-0 GLVC | ThunderWolves 2-3, 0-0 RMAC
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was a bit of a slow start to the final game of McKendree's three-game trip in the Centennial State, as CSU Pueblo scored the contest's first six goals and jumped out to a 7-1 advantage with a hair under two minutes of the first quarter. Attacker Jayna Barnden (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) slipped in her team's second scoring possession to put a wrap on the initial period.
The Bearcats did a complete 180 and held the ThunderWolves scoreless for the remainder of the match. McKendree dropped in 15 goals over the last three quarters, where Barned put up a double hat-trick within that span with two instances of a personal three-goal spurt by the senior.
Sophomore attacker Sofia Mullen (Lakeside, Nova Scotia, Canada) also earned herself a hat-trick of three scores by tallying one in each of the last three periods to help propel McKendree to the 10-point 17-7 win to close out their cross-region trip.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Barnden finished by tying her career-high of seven goals for a fifth time in her tenure to go along with an assist, a career-high seven ground balls, three caused turnovers, and a draw control on a perfect seven shots on the goal and nine shots overall. The Bearcats are 6-0 in games where the senior has participated.
• Mullen also got a hat-trick of three goals scored on four shots overall and on the goal, as she picked up a ground ball and a draw control.
• Junior midfielder Lexi Macleod (Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada) chipped in a pair into the net, plus an assist with six ground balls, two caused turnovers, and a quad of draw controls.
• Junior goalkeeper Amber Hayden (Woburn, Mass.) manned the net the whole 60:00 minutes of action and corralled 10 saves and a trio of ground balls.
• McKendree outshot CSU Pueblo 29-26 overall and 26-17 on the goal.
• The Bearcats were 19-for-26 (73.1%) on clear attempts.
• McKendree had the advantages on ground balls (32-28) and drawn controls (17-10).
• The team picked up their fourth win by a 10+ point margin, the most since the 2022 season where they finished with five.
• The Bearcats' 6-1 start to the 2026 season ties their best seven-game start in program history alongside 2015, as that year's team went on to win nine of their first 10 matches.
• The 16 straight goals scored by McKendree are tied for the most consecutive [with Ursuline College on March 3rd, 2022] since posting a 19-0 win over Lewis University on April 14th of 2019.
UP NEXT
McKendree will take a bye week from competition to get some rest and will be back in action on Thursday, March 26th in the first of a two-game slate to Michigan to extend their road trip, as they will face Northwood University at 11:00 AM CT at the Dean Soccer Field in Midland, Michigan.
The game will be streamed live or on-demand on FloSports with a subscription purchase required, as live stats will also be provided to the public.
Make sure to keep up with McKendree University Women's Lacrosse on Facebook, X (Twitter), and Instagram. #GLVCwlax | #D2lax
For more updates and information on Bearcat Athletics, please continue to visit McKBearcats.com and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter), and Instagram.
#BearcatsUnleashed
