MESA, Ariz. – The University of Northwestern Women's Lacrosse team is spending its week in the sunny state of Arizona, where the Eagles will play a pair of non-conference games. Tuesday afternoon, Northwestern squared off with the University of New England at the beautiful and sprawling Arizona Athletic Grounds complex. The Nor'Easters used an explosive first quarter to separate themselves, ultimately defeating the Eagles by a 16-4 score.
New England put up four quick goals to start the game before
Abby Scheel (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) found
Ainsley Thompson (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) for a goal to cut the deficit to 4-1. The Nor'Easters responded with four more goals before the buzzer sounded to take an 8-1 lead after 15 minutes. UNE also scored the first two goals of the second quarter to extend its lead to 10-1, but
Emma Snyder (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) found the back of the net with 2:29 remaining to make it 10-2 at the halftime break.
The teams traded goals to open second half play; New England with 11:43 on the clock and
Cara Smith (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) (assisted by Scheel) just 26 seconds later. Unfortunately for the Eagles, UNE rattled off five consecutive goals as the third quarter bled into the fourth to make the lead 16-3.
Emma Ruegemer's (Cold Spring, Minn./Eden Valley-Watkins) goal off a feed from Smith with 10:30 remaining in the game was the final score as Northwestern fell, 16-4.
Smith was the top point-scorer for UNW with her one goal and one assist. She also added three ground balls and three draw controls. Snyder, Thompson and Ruegemer each added a goal and Scheel dished out two assists.
Reegan Duininck (Prinsburg, Minn./Central Minnesota Christian) led the team with eight ground balls, while
Maren Reu (Sioux Falls, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) set the tone with four caused turnovers and two ground balls.
Maddie Hauer (Wausau, Wis./Wausau West) caused three turnovers and collected two ground balls, while
Lauren Paar (Centerville, Minn./Centennial) contributed three draw controls.
Daisy Koffler (Pine City, Minn./Pine City) made 15 saves in net and collected seven ground balls.
Northwestern will be back at it Wednesday night for one final game in Arizona, taking on Farmingdale State College at 8:30 PM CT (6:30 PM PT).
