MESA, Ariz. – The University of Northwestern Women's Lacrosse team wrapped up play in Arizona on Wednesday night with its second game in as many days. Unfortunately for Northwestern, its Arizona finale began far too similarly to Tuesday's game. UNW's opponent, Farmingdale State College, jumped out to a big first quarter lead and downed the Eagles by an 18-3 score under the lights at the Arizona Athletic Grounds.
The Rams lit up the scoreboard early and often, scoring their first goal just 45 seconds in and opening up a 9-0 lead before
Emma Ruegemer (Cold Spring, Minn./Eden Valley-Watkins) found
Maddie Hauer (Wausau, Wis./Wausau West) for a goal with 1:56 remaining in the opening quarter. Farmingdale State was able to tack on five more scores to take a 14-1 lead into halftime.
FSC continued to flash impressive offense and capitalized on several man-up opportunities to increase its lead to 18-1 as the fourth quarter began. The fourth quarter belonged to Northwestern, however.
Maddie Hauer (Wausau, Wis./Wausau West) scored off an assist from
Abby Scheel (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) 3:06 into the final period, then Hauer found
Cara Smith (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) for the game's final goal with 9:24 left. Despite the 18-3 final score, UNW did end the game with some momentum, scoring the only two goals of the quarter as it held the Rams scoreless.
Hauer was the pace-setter for Northwestern, logging two goals, one assist and three draw controls. She also led the team in shots on goal with five. Smith added a goal, three draw controls and a team-high four ground balls.
Maren Reu (Sioux Falls, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian),
Reegan Duininck (Prinsburg, Minn./Central Minnesota Christian) and
Chloe Solorzano (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) each caused two turnovers, with the latter adding a pair of ground balls as well. Scheel and Ruegemer each dished out one assist and
Emma Snyder (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) tallied two draw controls.
Daisy Koffler (Pine City, Minn./Pine City) made two saves in her three quarters in-cage.
The Eagles will return home with a 2-4 record on the season after going 0-2 in the desert. Next up for the Eagles will be a trip to UW-Stout on Wednesday, March 20
th. The draw is scheduled for 5:00 PM in Menomonie.
