ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern Women's Lacrosse team made the short drive down Snelling Avenue to Hamline University for its final game of the 2024 regular season. The contest would also determine who would be the four seed in the upcoming Midwest Lacrosse Conference Women's Lacrosse Tournament. Winner moves on, loser's season is over. The two teams battled until the very end in a dramatic game that went back-and-forth, but Hamline was able to emerge victorious, 13-10 to clinch a playoff berth.
The Pipers got out to an early 2-0 lead before
Emma Snyder (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) got UNW on the board at the 12:00 mark. The remaining 12:00 of the first quarter went scoreless as Hamline took a 2-1 lead into the second period. Just 1:59 into the second,
Ainsley Thompson (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) tied the game at two.
Abby Scheel (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) gave Northwestern the lead at the 9:54 mark, but the Pipers snatched it right back with a pair of goals. With 3:30 left before the half,
Maddie Hauer (Wausau, Wis./Wausau West) found the back of the cage to even the score at 4-4, which ended up being the score at the intermission.
Hamline came out of the locker room firing, scoring the first three goals of the third quarter. Thompson scored her second of the day with 28 seconds remaining in the period to draw within 7-5 at the end of the third. The Eagles continued to chip away as the fourth quarter commenced. Scheel scored 90 seconds in off an assist from Snyder, then picked up an assist of her own on a Thompson goal that tied the game at seven with 12:53 left.
The Pipers didn't give into UNW's momentum; however, rattling off three consecutive goals to open up a 10-7 lead with 8:08 remaining. A mere 16 seconds later,
Cara Smith (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) scored to trim the deficit to two, but Hamline answered back with two more goals to take its largest lead of the night, 12-8, with 4:53 to play. Scheel almost immediately netted her third of the afternoon to pull within three, but once again Hamline had an answer. Thompson scored for the fourth time with 2:29 left in the game, but the rest of the game went scoreless, resulting in a 13-10 win for Hamline.
Thompson's four goals led the way for UNW's offense, in addition to two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Scheel scored three times, assisted once, collected four ground balls and won two draw controls. Hauer and Smith each tallied one goal, three ground balls and two turnovers, while the latter added three draw controls. Snyder finished with one goal, one assist and three draw controls.
Maren Reu (Sioux Falls, S.D./Sioux Falls Christian) led the defensive effort with three caused turnovers and a pair of ground balls.
Chloe Solorzano (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) and
Annika Dykstra (New Brighton, Minn./Avail Academy) also collected two ground balls apiece, while
Emma Ruegemer (Cold Spring, Minn./Eden Valley-Watkins) logged three draw controls.
Daisy Koffler (Pine City, Minn./Pine City), who recently broke the team's single-season saves record, made 11 saves in the loss.
Northwestern's season ends with a 6-9 record overall and 1-4 in the MLC. With it being the final game for the program, we would like to sincerely thank all the coaches, players and fans who have poured into the program over the years.
