ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Hamline University lacrosse team (8-4) defeated the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (6-5) 14-5 on Saturday evening in the MWLC Championship game, earning their fourth straight playoff title. With the win, the Pipers earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament that will start next weekend. The selection show is set to take place on Monday, May 3 at 10:00 a.m. (ET).
 
With the win on their home field, the Pipers improve to 8-0 in their all-time series history against Northwestern and move to 7-0 in the MWLC Tournament.
 
Hamline had six different players score in the win, being led by big performances from senior Maya Hernandez, senior Ashley Hessler, and sophomore Taryn Leonard. Hessler led the team in points with six, scoring three times and assisting three others. Hernandez and Leonard each had five-point games, as Hernandez scored four times and added an assist and Leonard scored a hat trick and dished out two assists.
 
First year Emma Moe scored twice for HU and senior Maria Lewis and sophomore Michaela Arnold were the final two to add a tally.
 
Senior Alyssa Bryan-Jeffries made an impressive 14 saves in the contest, including making a clutch save on the very first possession to help Hamline score first in the game. Bryan-Jeffries is now 8-4 on the year.
 
As a team, Hamline was strong off the draw, nabbing 14 of the possible 21 draw controls. Lewis had the most with five, followed by Hernandez and first year Kendra Haselow, who each had four.
 
Leonard got the scoring going for the Pipers with an unassisted goal less than two minutes into play. Northwestern answered in kind with a goal of their own six minutes later to tie it at one. HU scored the next five goals in a row, however, giving themselves a bit of a lead with seven minutes still to go in the first half. Five different players scored within that 14-minutes span, starting with a goal from Lewis and ending with a goal from Moe to put them ahead 6-1.
 
UNW was the next to score, but Hamline would close the half with three more goals in the final six minutes, allowing them to take a 9-2 advantage into the break.
 
The Pipers scored the first two goals of the second half, but the Eagles answered right back with two of their own, to keep it a seven-goal game. The teams would trade goals again a little bit later in the half, before Hamline scored twice in the final seven minutes, cutting off the possibility of an UNW comeback. The goals from Hernandez and Hessler at the end of the game made the final 14-5.
 
With the win, Hamline extends their season to include the NCAA Tournament. They will find out who they play on Monday, May 3.