MIDLAND, Mich. – There were no signs of slowing down for the women's lacrosse team, who picked up where they left off after a bye week and dominating Northwood University 26-3 on the road on Thursday, March 26th to pick up their program-best seventh straight win with to go 7-1 overall on the season.
Score: McKendree University 26, Northwood University 3
Record: Bearcats 7-1, 0-0 GLVC | Timberwolves 0-9, 0-2 G-MAC
HOW IT HAPPENED
After a 13-day break from the playing field, McKendree showed very little rust and opened the game with five unanswered goals, with senior attacker Jayna Barnden (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) coming in on a pair, as sophomore midfielder Elle Garriock (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) dropped in her 10th goal of the season. Northwood finally scored their first point from just inside the arc at the 6:46 mark, but junior midfielder Mackenzie Stroisch (Arnold, Mo.) immediately responded with back-to-back scoring possessions for her team to give herself 10 goals on the year as the Bearcats would lead 7-2 after period number one.
The remainder of the first half belonged into the paws of the Bearcats, where they notched inside eight straight scores, as it was the freshman attacker Elora Waardenburg (Cobble Hill, British Columbia, Canada) who would get the hat-trick in that span of events, along with Barnden, who would tack on another pair to give herself four made thus far into the match. The Timberwolves would derelict McKendree's perfect quarter by sliding one in between the posts with seven seconds remaining to end the half down 3-15.
That would be the last time the Timberwolves would connect on the offensive end, as McKendree would take it from there on the field switch and put in five goals in the third quarter and supplemented with six more in the final period of regulation, with Barnden finishing off her career day with a quadruple more of shots scored. Waardenburg and freshman midfielder Dom Neville (San Mateo, Calif.) each got two to go in and end the game with a throttling 26-3 victory over Northwood.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Barnden finished with a career-high in both eight goals and 12 points, as she did so on 11 shots overall and on the goal (72.7%), while collecting four ground balls and getting a pair of caused turnovers.
• Waardenburg supplemented immensely with also a career-high of five goals and three assists for eight points on eight shots overall and seven on the goal, along with two ground balls.
• Neville was the other Bearcat to record a hat-trick, as she had a career-high-tying three goals on four shots overall and on the net, plus a ground ball.
• Sophomore goalkeeper Tabytha Moore (O'Fallon, Ill.) got the starting nod from her coach to record her second win in her career (2-0 overall), as she came away with a career-best eight saves on a 72.7 save percentage with a career-high four ground balls.
• McKendree outshot Northwood 41-19 overall and 34-10 on the goal.
• The Bearcats were 19-for-24 (79.2%) on clear attempts, while the Timberwolves were 8-for-14 (57.1%).
• McKendree held the advantage in ground balls (24-9) and draw controls (15-14).
• With the win, the Bearcats now hold their program's longest win streak at seven games, and breaking their six-game undefeated stretch in the early part of the 2015 season.
• This is the third time McKendree as a team has scored at least 26 goals, and is one shy of their program record of 27, which happened at Grand Valley State University in the semifinals of the GLIAC Tournament on May 4th, 2018.
• The 23-point victory margin ties the program's largest since their 25-2 victory at Ashland University on April 5th, 2019.
• The 7-1 start ties the program's best through the first eight games of the season, along with the 2015 year, when the team started out 9-1.
UP NEXT
McKendree will be back in action on Saturday, March 28th when they take on the Cardinals of Saginaw Valley State University at 9:00 AM CT at the Robert C. Braddock Field in University Center, 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. Tickets can be purchased online on SVSU's athletics website.
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.
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