ST. PAUL, Minn. - In their first home game of the 2021 season, the Hamline lacrosse team (2-2) defended their home turf with a decisive 16-2 victory over University of Northwestern - St. Paul (0-1). After leading 5-1 at the half, the Pipers exploded for 11 goals in the second half to claim their second victory of the year.
 
Senior Ashley Hessler set a new single game assist record in the contest with five assists throughout. She added three goals for an impressive eight-point game. The eight points is two shy of the school record and is a career-high for the Farmington native.
 
The Pipers showed off their depth in the game, with eight other players scoring at least one goal. Sophomore Taryn Leonard had six points in the game, with three goals and three assists, while first year Analisa Aragon, senior Maya Hernandez, and first year Lily Uhl all added two goals apiece.
 
Hernandez and senior Maria Lewis dominated the draw, combining to collect 14 draw controls in the game, with eight and six, respectively. Hernandez added five ground balls and three caused turnovers to fill out her stat line and Lewis chipped in with three ground balls and three caused turnovers.
 
Hessler led all players in ground balls with eight, being one away from tying the school record.  
 
As a team, the Pipers held a dominant 41-6 edge in shots, getting 35 of the 41 shots on net. HU also collected 15 of the 20 possible draw controls and forced 31 Eagle turnovers.
 
Northwestern scored first in the game, getting a shot on net a little over two minutes into the game. This would be the only shot on goal that the Eagles would get all half, though, as the Pipers locked down on defense for the remaining 28 minutes.
 
A goal from Hessler two minutes later tied the game at one and Leonard scored with 19:29 left in the half to take over the lead. First year Clare Chambers was next to score followed by a goal from Uhl to make it 4-1. Aragon was the final Piper to score in the half, as HU took a 5-1 lead into the break.
 
The Eagles were again the first to score in the second half, cutting Hamline's lead to three a little over five minutes into the second frame. A goal from junior Tara DeLeo a minute and a half later gave Hamline the momentum back, as the Pipers would score three more times in the next three minutes, getting a goal from Hernandez and two from Leonard to extend their lead to 9-2.
 
Hessler scored on a free position shot with 18 minutes left in the game and added another goal about three minutes later to make it 11-2. Uhl got the next goal with 12:42 left in the game and Hernandez would make it 13-2 with a goal a few minutes later.
 
Aragon, first year Emma Moe, and Lewis tallied the final three goals of the game as the Pipers coasted to the 16-2 victory.
 
Senior Alyssa Bryan-Jeffries made four saves in the game, earning the win.
 
Hamline will play again on Saturday, hosting Illinois Wesleyan for a 1:00 p.m. game at Klas Field. As a reminder, no fans are allowed at this time, but the game can be live streamed, with the link available on the schedule page.