LA CROSSE, Minn. - The 2021 lacrosse season is officially underway for the Hamline University Pipers (1-0), as they defeated UW-La Crosse (1-1) 10-8 in a road game on Wednesday night. The Pipers had to withstand a late rally from the Eagles, but held tough to start the new season 1-0.
 
Hamline had five different players score in the win, being led by senior Ashley Hessler who scored three goals, as well as dishing out three assists to end with a game-high six points. Senior Maya Hernandez added three goals (and an assist) and sophomore Taryn Leonard chipped in with two. Senior Maria Lewis and sophomore Chole Herbst were the final two to add a tally for HU.
 
First year Kendra Haselow picked up four draw controls for the Pipers and also nabbed three ground balls in her collegiate debut. In addition to her goal, Lewis also caused two turnovers and junior Tara DeLeo matched Haselow in ground balls with three.
 
The game got off to a good start for the Pipers, as the held the possession for a lot of the early part of the game. Hernandez scored in the first two minutes and Leonard added a goal less than two minutes after that to put Hamline up 2-0. Both goals were assisted by Hessler.
 
The score would remain 2-0 for about the next 15 minutes until Leonard scored again, this time unassisted, with 11:30 left in the half. From there, the Eagle offense got going scoring the next three straight goals to tie it at three apiece.
 
Lewis returned some of the momentum to the Pipers, being the next to score to take the lead back for HU with 4:20 to go in the half. Hessler would add two of the final three goals of the half, helping Hamline take a 6-4 lead into the break.
 
The second half started just as well as the first, with the Pipers scoring the first three goals. Hernandez scored two of those three goals with Herbst adding the other. A goal from UWL would make it 9-5, but Hessler scored next to make it 10-5 with 11:42 left in the game.
 
From here, the Eagles started to mount a comeback, scoring at 11:07, 7:21 and 5:45 to make it a two-goal game at 10-8. The Piper defense was able to hold on, however, as senior goalie Alyssa Bryan-Jeffries made two saves in the final minute to secure the win for HU. Jeffries finished the game with eight saves on the night.  
 
The Pipers have two more road games this weekend before opening up their home schedule, hosting Northwestern in a non-conference game on Wednesday, March 17. This weekend, HU travels first to the University of Chicago for a Saturday afternoon game and then the team will make their way to Carroll for a game on Sunday. Links to follow along with the action are available on the lacrosse schedule page.