ST. PAUL, Minn. - With an 18-3 win over Wartburg on Wednesday afternoon, the Hamline University lacrosse team (7-4, 5-0 MWLC) clinched at least a share of the Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference (MWLC) regular season championship for the third time in program history.
The Pipers had eight different players score in the win, being led by senior
Ashley Hessler who recorded seven points which included five goals and two assists. Sophomore
Michaela Arnold and senior
Maya Hernandez each had three goals apiece and sophomore Tayrn Leonard and first year
Emma Moe had two each.
In net, senior
Alyssa Bryan-Jeffries earned the win, making six saves to improve to 7-4 on the year. First year
Justine Case played the final 15 minutes in net, tallying a save.
As a team, the Pipers were successful on 16 of their 17 possible clear attempts and held a 14-8 edge in draw controls.
The HU offense came ready to play, scoring four times within the first four minutes. Arnold started the scoring, getting a goal on Hamline's first possession. Hessler scored next, being assisted by Leonard. Hernandez and Leonard then added goals a little over a minute apart to make it 4-0. Hessler and Leonard would connect again within the first 10 minutes to put the Pipers up by five.
Hernandez, first year
Analisa Aragon, and Arnold would all score, to give Hamline an eight-goal lead, before Wartburg got on the board with a goal from Ellie Johnson to make the score 8-1.
Hamline would get the final two goals of the half, with Haselow and Hernandez getting the final two tallies, putting HU ahead 10-1 at the intermission.
Arnold got the scoring going again in the second half, putting the Pipers ahead by 10 two minutes into the second frame. Sophomore
Chloe Herbst was the next to score and a pair of goals from Moe made it 14-1. A goal from Leonard and two goals from Hessler closed out the scoring for HU, as they cruised to the 18-3 victory.
The Pipers will conclude the MWLC regular season this weekend, hosting Monmouth on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. After that, they will look ahead to the MWLC Playoff Tournament set to begin next week.
