ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern women's lacrosse team took one the 12-1 overall University of Wisconsin Eau Claire Blugolds on Wednesday in a non-conference match. The Eagles rallied for five unanswered goals in the fourth quarter but would fall 12-9 to the Blugolds.
Eau Claire opened the match with five consecutive goals in the first quarter.
Cara Smith (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) put the Eagles on the board, scoring on an unassisted effort when UNW was down a player due to a card. The Blugolds managed to respond with a final first quarter goal to send the game to the second with UWEA up 6-1.
In the second quarter, a pair of Blugold goals were scored early and late in the frame. However, in the middle of the quarter,
Samantha Wiebold (Farmington, Minn./Farmington) scored her first of the game on an unassisted goal. The game entered halftime with Eau Claire leading 8-2 over Northwestern.
Wiebold followed up her second quarter goal with another to open the third, with
Ava Whitcomb (Otsego, Minn./Rogers) assisting. The Blugolds answered with another goal, but the Eagles responded with another of their own as Wiebold found the back of the net for the third time to complete a hat trick. Eau Claire would score thrice more to close out the third quarter.
Down 12-4, the Eagles kept on fighting and put on a dominant performance in the fourth quarter. Whitcomb scored her first of the game with 7:57 remaining in regulation. Smith followed with her second of the night two minutes later. With 90 seconds remaining, Wiebold scored her fourth goal of the game for her team-leading 26
th of the season. Whitcomb found the back of the net a second time with 47 seconds remaining, and followed up with her third goal of the game right as the clock hit zeros to complete a hat trick. While the offense put up the scoring frenzy, the defense shutout the Blugolds in the quarter.
Smith led both teams with six ground balls and four caused turnovers in the contest while not giving up a single turnover of her own. Wiebold's four draw controls led the Eagles.
Next up for Northwestern is another non-conference match at home against another University of Wisconsin team, this time taking on River Falls at 7:00 P.M. next Wednesday, April 20.
