FOREST GROVE, Ore. – Lewis & Clark College women's lacrosse defeated Pacific University 16-7 in Northwest Conference play Saturday afternoon at Hanson Stadium, clinching the program's first NWC Tournament berth and at least the No. 3 seed.
THE BASICS
Lewis & Clark 16, Pacific 7
(Lewis & Clark 11-5, NWC 6-1)
(Pacific 8-8, NWC 2-6)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Sophomore
Aviana Gonzales scored seven goals and added an assist to surpass 50 goals on the season. She recorded three goals in 31 seconds during the third quarter, all assisted by first-year
Ala Cross, and scored the tying goal with 30 seconds left in the first half. Cross finished with two goals and five assists and also reached 50 goals on the season.
Junior
Sage Swegle added two goals and three assists, while junior
Finley Allen posted three goals and one assist, including a man-down goal in the third quarter and a man-up goal in the fourth.
Senior
Kate Meinhard scored one goal, added an assist and won eight draw controls. Sophomore
Mack Searle recorded one goal, one assist and a team-high nine draw controls. Lewis & Clark won 19 of 25 draws.
Sophomore
Kaitlin McRae started in goal and made five saves in the first half to earn the win. First-year
Phoebe Labuhn played the second half and made three saves.
Allen opened the scoring at 5:17 of the first quarter on a pass from Searle. Pacific answered with two goals from India Cartwright, including one with four seconds left in the quarter, to take a 2-1 lead. Ellena Willingham added two early second-quarter goals to extend the lead to 4-1.
Lewis & Clark responded with three straight goals to tie the game. Swegle scored a man-up goal at 10:21 off a pass from Cross. Cross added goals at 6:39 and 2:53, the second on a free-position attempt. Willingham gave Pacific a 5-4 lead at 2:41, but Gonzales tied the score with 30 seconds left on a man-up goal assisted by Meinhard.
Lewis & Clark scored seven of eight goals in the third quarter to take a 12-6 lead. Searle scored at 12:09 from Gonzales, and Allen added a man-down goal at 8:52. Gonzales then scored three straight goals in 31 seconds, all assisted by Cross, to extend the lead to 10-5. After a Pacific goal cut the margin to 10-6, Meinhard scored at 2:14 and Gonzales added another at 1:46.
Pacific opened the fourth-quarter scoring, but Lewis & Clark closed the game with four straight goals. Gonzales scored at 13:34 from Swegle, Swegle followed at 10:22 from Allen, Gonzales added another at 9:02 from Cross, and Allen capped the scoring with a man-up goal at 5:13 from Swegle.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Cross extended her single-season program records to 49 assists and 99 points and reached 50 goals on the season.
- Gonzales reached 54 goals on the season for the second straight season.
- Lewis & Clark held advantages in shots (32-20), draw controls (19-6) and clears (17-of-19 to Pacific's 15-of-31).
- Sophomores Kaedance Stubbs and Ava Mullen led the River Otters with five and four ground balls, respectively.
- With her two points in the game, Searle has 94 career points as she moves closer to the century mark.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark hosts George Fox on Sunday at 1 p.m. for Senior Day at Griswold Stadium. The program will honor senior
Kate Meinhard, the first senior in Lewis & Clark women's lacrosse history, before the game.
