LEBANON, Ill. – The women's lacrosse team crawled out of a two-goal deficit in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, to where they ended on three unanswered to pull off the 10-9 win on Senior Day against the Quincy University Hawks on Sunday, April 19th at the Leemon Field in Lebanon, Illinois.
Score: McKendree University 10, Quincy University 9
Record: Bearcats 10-5, 2-3 GLVC | Hawks 4-11, 1-4 GLVC
HOW IT HAPPENED
After Quincy held the Bearcats scoreless in the first period of play, McKendree started to find their footing in the second after sophomore attacker Ariyah LaFrance gave her squad their first goal of the game off a breakaway clear. The New York native dropped in another one after an answer by the Hawks to put the opposing lead back to one, before senior attacker Jayna Barnden (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) scored her first of the day after missing the last two outings with an injury to tie the match at three apiece heading into the half.
A 4-2 quarter by Quincy put themselves back in the driver's seat, as freshman midfielder Dom Neville (San Mateo, Calif.) notched her seventh goal in her young career, while the other freshman, Elora Waardenburg (Cobble Hill, British Columbia, Canada), put in a tip-in shot off the feed inside to knot the game at five.
With one more period to take it all, Waardenburg opened up with her second of the game and 35th of the year, as junior midfielder Lexi Macleod (Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada) responded to her season-high in the last game with a score to bring McKendree to within one, but Quincy answered with their ninth in the game with 9:56 left in regulation.
LaFrance brought the Bearcats back to one two minutes later after a close-range shot, with both sides battling it out for the next several minutes of play. With 1:24 left on the clock, Waardenburg caused a monumental turnover by Quincy, to where she pushed it over to junior midfielder Mackenzie Stroisch (Arnold, Mo.) as she flung it into the back of the net to tie it at nine.
Macleod obtained the subsequent draw control, to which the Bearcats would hold on to the ball and wind the game clock down, until Waardenburg made a move behind the cage and dumped to LaFrance for the one-two punch to take their first lead of the entire game with still 19 ticks left. McKendree won the draw control once again, but after immediately turning it over, the Hawks mismanaged the clock and could not get a shot off in time to give the Beacats their second conference win of the season 10-9.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Waardenburg ended the game with three goals, including her first career game-winning goal, to go with a pair of assists, two ground balls, and two caused turnovers.
• LaFrance also notched a hat-trick of three goals, plus a trio of assists for six total points, while also tallying two ground balls, a caused turnover, and a draw control.
• With a goal and an assist, Macleod picked up seven draw controls to go with a ground ball and a pair of draw controls.
• Junior goalkeeper Amber Hayden (Woburn, Mass.) played all game in the net and recorded 15 saves, two ground balls, and a caused turnover. It is the 14th time in her career coming up with 15 or more savers.
• McKendree outshot Quincy 29-26 overall, but tied at 20 each on the goal.
• The Bearcats were 14-of-22 (63.6%) on clear attempts, while the Hawks were 18-for-24 (75.0%).
• McKendree edged their opposition on draw controls (12-8).
• This marks the first time the Bearcats have won 10 or more games in a season since 2021.
SENIOR DAY
Prior to the game against Quincy, the program recognized two senior athletes in attacker Jayna Barnden (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) and defender Marin Paulenko (Calgary, Alberta, Canada). While their time at McKendree will soon be coming to an end, they will forever be engraved as part of the Bearcat family.
UP NEXT
McKendree will be back on the road next week, when they take on the Hawks of No.24 Rockhurst University on Friday, April 25th at 4:00 PM CT at the Bourke Field in Kansas City, Missouri in hopes to keep their GLVC Tournament bid alive.
The game will be streamed live or on-demand on the GLVC Sports Network with a subscription/download purchase required. Live stats will also be provided to the public. Tickets can be purchased over at rockhursthawks.com.
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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