LEBANON, Ill. – The women's lacrosse team will take their spring break out to the Rocky Mountains in the state of Colorado for three contests over a span of five days and build on their positive start.
The Bearcats will start things off at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs on Sunday, March 8th at the Mountain Lion Stadium with first draw coming at 1:00 PM CT. Next, the team will face Fort Lewis College in a neutral-site matchup on the campus of Colorado State University Pueblo at 12:00 PM at the Art and Lorraine Gonzales Stadium on Tuesday, March 10th. To wrap up, McKendree will remain in Pueblo to take on the hosting ThunderWolves on Thursday, March 12th in a later 5:00 PM CT tilt.
All contests during the stretch will be steamed live and on demand on the RMAC Network with a subscription/download purchase required. Live stats will also be made available to the public.
SCOUTING THE LAST OUTINGS
McKendree pushed their win streak to three after a dominating weekend in their home openers in the past few days, taking down Thomas More University 19-9 and the University of Findlay 17-5 on Saturday and Wednesday, respectively.
Against Thomas More, McKendree started out hot by scoring the game's first three goals, and five of the first six as sophomore midfielder Elle Garriock (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) and senoir attacker Jayna Barnden (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) each picked up their third goals of the season. McKendree's leading scorer in sophomore attacker Ariyah LaFrance (Akwesasne, N.Y.) got her first shot to go in with a little under five minutes left in the opening period to help keep a three-point edge. Thomas More pushed back just a smidge more in the second quarter, but much like the first, the Bearcats utilized their whole offense and dropped in another five scoring possessions off five different players. A slingshot by the sophomore attacker Sofia Mullen (Lakeside, Nova Scotia, Canada) with 28 ticks left till half upped her squad's lead to 10-5 before the break. The momentum slowed a bit in the third period of play, except for Mullen, who would keep firing away and eventually netted her third goal of the contest off a curl action. A high-riser shot by sophomore midfielder Abby Drinkwalter (Peterborough, Ontario, Canada) continued the extending trend for the Bearcats to lead by six with one more quarter to go. A 6-1 start for McKendree to begin the fourth and final quarter of play put themselves up with a 10-point cushion, with freshman attacker Mykenzie Shymko finding the back of the net for her first two career goals on the latter two of the run. With 7:17 left in the game, Head Coach Natalie Simpson pulled junior goalkeeper Amber Hayden from the goal and had her join her teammates on the attack for the remainder of the match. The Massachusetts product was able to get herself open from a pocket pass by freshman midfielder Dom Neville (San Mateo, CA) to earn her first-ever collegiate goal, as McKendree beat Thomas More with ease, 19-9. Mullen and junior midfielder Lexi Macleod (Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada) each earned a hat-trick with three goals apiece with the latter also contributing a pair of assists, and the former shooting 100% on-goal and overall, with seven ground balls between the two. Barnden, LaFrance, Shymko, and freshman attacker Elora Waardenburg (Cobble Hill, British Columbia, Canada) each put in two goals on the day, with seven ground balls combined as well. Junior defender Rylee Fox (Woodridge, IL) was a disrupter on the defensive end of the field, coming away with seven caused turnovers and six ground balls. Her ground balls tie the most since 2024, and her seven caused turnovers are the most individually since 2015. Hayden finished with eight saves with 52:43 in the net, while sophomore goalkeeper Tabytha Moore (O'Fallon, Ill.) had one save in the remaining time.
In the win over Findlay, after roughly four minutes of action to start, LaFrance netted the first goal of the game, as Macleod followed up with another to force a Findlay timeout. The Oilers were finally able to get themselves on the board with a two-goal response to tie the game up, but the Bearcats closed out the first quarter of play with three more scores to go up 5-2. Barnden started off the second period with a man-down goal for her squad before the Oilers tacked on two more to close the gap to one. Then, the Bearcats would turn up the jets and go on a blazing 7-0 run that dipped into the majority of the third quarter, as Barnden picked up two more scoring possessions to give herself the hat-trick with five other McKendree players each contributing one goal in the process. Gameplay would apparently pause for a good hour and 45 minutes of real time as the city of Lebanon encountered a lightning storm that had been brewing all week long. Yet, that did not affect McKendree and their gameplan in any way or form, as junior midfielder Mackenzie Stroisch (Arnold, Mo.) dropped in her second of the game to hold. 10-goal lead at 14-4. With both teams looking to put a wrap in the fourth and final period of action, Findlay swung one last ball into the pipes while Macleod registered two more to her scoring arsenal and LaFrance converted on the free position shot to seal the deal against the Oilers 17-5. LaFrance totaled six points with three goals and a trio of assists on five shot attempts, all of which on the goal, plus a ground ball, a caused turnover, and a draw control. Macleod had a game-high four goals on also five shot attempts, while tabbing four each of ground balls and caused turnovers, plus six draw controls. Barnden was the third Bearcat to get a hat-trick, as she did so on six attempts overall and five on the goal to go with a pair of ground balls and caused turnovers. Hayden was in the net for 59:00 of the total 60:00 minutes and collected nine saves.
WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY?
After taking care of business against Thomas More on in a one-game week on Saturday, Junior defender Rylee Fox (Woodridge, Ill.), who is in her first year playing on the defense, was a key factor in disrupting the Saints' offense as she finished the game with seven caused turnovers and six ground balls. Her ground ball total in the victory was tied for the most for a Bearcat since the 2024 season, and her seven caused turnovers are the most individually since 2015.
The junior is top-10 in the conference in ground balls per game (5th – 3.0) and caused turnovers per game (3rd – 2.33). She leads McKendree in both categories, with nine and seven total, respectively.
This marks the program's 11th weekly individual recognition within the GLVC, since joining the league in 2020. It is the fifth specifically for the defensive end of the field, with Fox being the fourth different Bearcat to earn it in that realm.
HISTORY SHOWCASE
Against UCCS, it will be the first-ever official meeting between the two schools.
Against Fort Lewis, it will be the fourth meeting in history, as the Skyhawks hold the 2-1 edge in the previous three. McKendree stole the previous matchup 11-8 in Durango during the 2022 season, but half faltered in the first two games when they played twice in the Bearcats' inaugural season in 2013.
Against CSU Pueblo, it will be the seventh meeting between the two programs, with the Bearcats leading the series five games to one. McKendree has come away with victories over the last four outings dating back to 2017, with their only loss to the ThunderWolves coming in 2016 in Pueblo. The average margin of victory in the Bearcat wins is 6.4, including a pair of games where they have won by just one point.
KNOW THE FOES
The Mountain Lions were picked third in a six-team RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll earlier this year after going 9-6 overall last year with a 6-4 mark in conference play, where they fell to Regis University 5-13 in the RMAC Tournament Semifinals. They are currently 1-1 this season by losing their opening game to then-No.6 Maryville University and followed up with an 11-10 win over Northern Michigan University on Wednesday. The first five games of the season for UCCS will be against Midwest Region opponents, with four (including McKendree) from the GLVC.
The Skyhawks were picked last in this year's preseason poll after finishing last season with a struggling 1-15 record and a 0-10 RMAC posting, as their only win was by one point at William Jewell College on March 12th. Fort Lewis has only played one game so far this season, losing to fellow GLVC-member Missouri Western State University 5-16 on February 24th.
The ThunderWolves were placed at the five-spot in the RMAC preseason poll, where they went 2-12 on the year while picking up both their wins in conference play at 2-8. CSU Pueblo already matched their win total this season with victories over Coker University and Southern Wesleyan University but has lost their most recent outing to Converse University 14-15 on February 23rd. They will host McKendree, Fort Lewis, Colorado Mesa University, and Rockhurst University during the spring break stretch.
NCAA's TOP 25 (as of 3/5/26)
McKENDREE
Team:
• Assists per game (22nd – 7.6)
• Points per game (21st – 22.0)
• Save percentage (12th – 52.9%)
• Scoring offense (18th – 14.8)
• Shots per game (17th – 32.6)
• Shots on goal per game (23rd – 24.3)
• Win percentage (22nd – 75.0%)
Individual:
•
Jayna Barnden –– free position goals per game (8th – 1.3), free position percentage (19th – 80.0%)
•
Amber Hayden –– save percentage (12th – 53.7%), total saves (10th – 44), saves per game (7th – 11.0), shot percentage (1st – 100%)
COLORADO COLORADO SPRINGS
Team:
• Clearing percentage (1st – 96.8%)
• Turnovers per game (17th – 13.0)
Individual:
• Allie Schell –– assists per game (18th – 2.5)
• Josephine Leonard –– draw controls per game (21st – 6.0)
• Sofia Watts –– free position goals per game (16th – 1.0)
FORT LEWIS
Team:
• Caused turnovers per game (7th – 14.0)
• Ground balls per game (21st – 21.0)
Individual:
• Samantha Rodgers –– caused turnovers per game (1st – 7.0), ground balls per game (1st – 6.0), shot percentage (1st – 100%)
• Olivia Tilbury –– ground balls per game (1st – 6.0), saves per game (7th – 11.0)
• Grace Butler –– shot percentage (1st – 100%)
• Valerie Garcia –– shot percentage (1st – 100%)
COLORADO STATE PUEBLO
Team:
• Assists per game (15th – 8.0)
• Caused turnovers per game (2nd – 16.0)
• Draw controls per game (13th – 16.0)
• Ground balls per game (2nd – 30.3)
• Points per game (13th – 23.7)
• Scoring offense (12th – 15.7)
• Shots per game (2nd – 37.7)
• Shots on goal per game (1st – 32.0)
Individual:
• Emily Doane –– assists per game (14th – 2.7), points per game (15th – 5.3)
• Alexandria Bennett –– shot percentage (1st – 100%)
LOOKING AHEAD
After McKendree ends their three-game stretch in Colorado, they will remain on the road after a bye week to take on a pair of GLIAC foes in Michigan, facing Northwood University on Thursday, March 26th at 11:00 AM CT and Saginaw Valley State University on Saturday, March 28th at 9:00 AM CT.
Both games can be watched live and on-demand on FloSports with a subscription purchase required. Live stats will also be made available to the public.
TUNE IN-FO
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