LEBANON, Ill. – The women's lacrosse team is riding an eight-game winning streak dating back to February 22nd, as they will finally return home to Lebanon after a five-game road swing to close their non-conference slate and kick off GLVC play this week. 

At the friendly confines of Leemon Field, the Bearcats will play a bright-and-early 10:00 AM CT match on Tuesday, March 31st against Dominican University of California, and will set sail into conference play by hosting the No.9 Maryville University Saints on Saturday, April 4th at 12:00 PM CT. 

Both games will be streamed live and on demand on the GLVC Sports Network with a subscription/download purchase required. Live stats will also be made available to the public. 

SCOUTING THE LAST OUTINGS 

McKendree is coming off a dominating slate last week in the state of Michigan, where they manhandled both Northwood University and Saginaw Valley State University in non-conference action to extend their winning streak to eight games and currently posting an 8-1 overall record with yet to play a GLVC match. 

At Northwood, McKendree showed very little rust after a 13-day break from the playing field, as they 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. 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.  

At SVSU, McKendree controlled the game from start to finish with little signs of repel from the opposition. The Bearcats would jump to a 17-0 lead before SVSU got their first goal to go in with two minutes left of the third quarter of play, which came on a man-up opportunity. Waardenburg earned a hat-trick in the first quarter, as Bearcat leading scorer Banden contributed on a pair to tie a season-high eight goals in a quarter, to which they did in their game prior against Northwood University. In the second period, Barnded chipped in two more to give her four thus far into the match, while sophomore midfielder Lauren Blackburn (Louisville, Ky.) also got in a pair to give herself an early hat-trick too. After the offense slowed down in the first 15 minutes of the second half of action, McKendree went on to score five more straight in the fourth quarter behind a third goal of the contest by junior midfielder Lexi Macleod (Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada), with Barnden scoring yet another shot to finish herself with a double-hat-trick of six goals to give the Bearcats a runaway win, 22-1. Barnden recorded six goals in the game to give her a double-hat-trick, making it the fourth straight game having 5+ goals, as she also tallied an assist and a ground ball. Waardenburg, Macleod, and Blackburn each got on the hat-trick train with three goals to each. Waardenburg also came away with four assists, four ground balls, and a caused turnover. Blackburn dished a trio of assists to go with a pair of ground balls, four draw controls, and caused a turnover. Freshman attacker Mykenzie Shymko (Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada), and sophomore attacker Sofia Mullen (Lakeside, Nova Scotia, Canada) each dropped in a pair into the net. Moore guarded the goal for the entire contest for the second-straight outing, to which she finished with four saves and two ground balls. 

SWEEPING WITH OUR STICKS 

The Bearcats have once again swept this week's GLVC Player of the Week accolades, making it the second time this season and the third time ever doing so. This also marks the fifth and sixth weekly honors this year alone for the club, with nine games down and still at least eight games to go. 

Senior attacker Jayna Barnden (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) was named the conference's Offensive Player of the Week after totaling 19 points on 14 goals and five assists, along with five ground balls and two caused turnovers on 66.7% shooting overall and 90.5% on the goal, which included going 100% on free-position shot attempts and also clinching game-winning goals in both outings. 

Junior midfielder Lexi Macleod (Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada) was honored with the Defensive Player of the Week, as she collected seven caused turnovers, 11 ground balls, two draw controls, along with seven points consisting of four goals and three assists on 50.0% shooting overall and 87.5% on the goal. 

ON THE CUSP 

With their continuation of winning, McKendree has appeared this week on the USA Lacrosse Division II Women's Top 20 poll under the "Also Considered" section, where they are one of five teams just outside the rankings. 

BEST OF THE BEST 

McKendree currently sits at number one in all of NCAA Division II in save percentage at 59.1%, which also would lead in DI, with the next-best DII team at 58.8% (Wilmington University). The team has allowed a total of 63 goals made by the opposition on 229 total shots faced with 154 on directed the goal specifically. 

HISTORY SHOWCASE 

Against Dominican, this will be the third-ever meeting between the two schools, as the series is split evenly at one apiece. The Penguins took home the last outing in a neutral-site contest in Liberty, Missouri last season, where they won 12-10. McKendree snagged the first matchup the year prior by the same margin, 14-12 in Lebanon. 

Against Maryville, the cross-river showdown Saturday will be the 11th ever in the series history, with the Bearcats holding on to a 6-4 edge in the previous 10. It has been a tale of two halves, as the Saints won each of the last four outings dating back to 2023 by an average of a 22.5-6.3 score, yet McKendree started the historical matchup with the first six victories by a 20.5-5.7 score. 

KNOW THE FOES 

The Penguins, who hail from the state of California and despite competing in the Mountain East Conference, are 8-3 on the year with their most recent outing coming in a 5-16 setback at Maryville on Sunday. They did beat Quincy University 11-10 last Friday to start their GLVC swing of competition. Dominican started the year with four straight victories and won seven of their first eight contests. 

The Saints have been riding the top 10 of the IWLCA Coaches' Poll all season long, rising as high as No.4 a few weeks back. They are sitting at 7-2 overall and won their most recent game against Dominican in St. Louis on Sunday after dropping their first two games of the season to then-No.2 Florida Southern College and then-No.5 University of Tampa. Prior to that, the Saints won their first six straight while picking up two top 25 wins in the process. The team was picked to finish first in this year's GLVC Preseason Coaches' Poll. 

NCAA's TOP 25 (as of 3/30/26) 

McKENDREE 

Team: 

• Assists per game (11th – 8.3) 
• Ground balls per game (5th – 24.8) 
• Points per game (7th – 25.2) 
• Save percentage (1st – 59.1%) 
• Scoring defense (4th – 7.0) 
• Scoring margin (4th – +9.9) 
• Scoring offense (6th – 16.9) 
• Shot percentage (9th – 50.0%) 
• Shots per game (6th – 33.8) 
• Shots on goal per game (3rd – 26.7) 
• Win percentage (9th – 88.9%) 

Individual: 

• Jayna Barnden –– assists per game (22nd – 2.3), free position goals per game (18th – 0.9), free position percentage (8th – 70.0%), total goals (22nd – 35), goals per game (6th – 4.4), total points (12th – 53), points per game (3rd – 6.6), shots per game (11th – 8.1), shots on goal per game (5th – 6.8) 
• Amber Hayden –– goals-against average (10th – 8.3), save percentage (2nd – 57.8%), saves per game (7th – 11.1), shot percentage (1st – 100%) 

DOMINICAN (CALIF.) 

Team: 

• Clearing percentage (20th – 86.1%) 
• Draw control percentage (2nd – 70.2%) 
• Draw controls per game (9th – 15.6) 
• Free-position percentage (17th – 54.1%) 
• Scoring defense (14th – 8.0) 
• Turnovers per game (14th – 13.6) 
• Win percentage (23rd – 72.7%) 

Individual: 

• Olivia Johnson –– draw controls per game (8th – 7.3) 
• Morgan Newkirk –– free position goals per game (20th – 0.8) 
• Sarah Brosseau –– shot percentage (1st – 100%) 

MARYVILLE 

Team: 

• Assists per game (19th – 7.6) 
• Clearing percentage (15th – 87.3) 
• Free position percentage (3rd – 63.8%) 
• Points per game (18th – 23.2) 
• Scoring margin (14th – 6.4) 
• Scoring offense (12th – 15.7) 
• Shots per game (9th – 33.4) 
• Shots on goal per game (4th – 26.6) 
• Turnovers per game (15th – 13.6) 
• Win percentage (17th – 77.8%) 

Individual: 

• Helen Bae –– draw controls per game (15th – 6.2), free position goals per game (9th – 1.0), free position percentage (5th – 75.0%), points per game (13th – 5.1) 
• Paige Murphy –– free position goals per game (1st – 1.9), free position percentage (1st – 85.0%), total goals (5th – 47), goals per game (1st – 5.2), total points (11th – 55), points per game (5th – 6.1), shots per game (1st – 11.3), shots on goal per game (1st – 9.1) 
• Gianna Guzek –– goals-against average (11th – 8.7) 

LOOKING AHEAD 

After this week, McKendree will continue to roll deep into conference play, as they will get back on the road to face Lewis University on Friday, April 10th at 5:30 PM CT and then No.3 University of Indianapolis on Sunday, April 12th at 10:00 AM CT. 

Both games will be streamed live and on-demand on the GLVC Sports Network with a subscription/download purchase required. Live stats will also be made available to the public. Tickets can be found on the respective institutions' athletic websites. 

TUNE IN-FO 

DATE	TIME (CT)	HOME TEAM	AWAY TEAM	LIVE STATS	WATCH LIVE
3/31/26	10:00 AM	McKendree	Dominican	STATS	WATCH ($)
4/4/26	12:00 PM	McKendree	Maryville	STATS	WATCH ($)

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