ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul lacrosse (9-4, 6-2 GLIAC) unleashed an impressive performance on Thursday evening sparked by the inaugural recruiting class' 16 goals leading to a 24-6 win over Ashland University (4-8, 3-6 GLIAC) at Sea Foam Stadium.
The program,
reeling from the loss of junior teammate Tia Zachman earlier in the week, paid tribute to one of the members of the inaugural 2017 roster before the game with a touching moment of silence and including her in the starting lineup. The squad played a man down until the 29:33 mark of the first half, matching Zachman's jersey number 33.
Following the stoppage of play to recognize the heightened emotions of the situation, Concordia would score seven goals in a span of 6:14 of play in front of the largest estimated attendance in team history of 634, including games played at home or away.
The team named all nine of Zachman's teammates who entered the program with her in 2017 as game captains, and the group combined for 16 goals, five assists, 10 ground balls, seven caused turnovers and a goalie victory. The group factored into all facets of the game, as well: the attack, midfield, defense and the crease.
As a team, Concordia compiled the second most goals (24), third most points (36) and tied the single game record for draw controls (21)
Among the junior class,
Alina Boyce and
Kailey Heinl each hit program milestones in the contest. Boyce tied a program record with 10 points, including six goals to become the second player to reach 100 career goals to join fellow junior
Maddie Hentges. Boyce also tied her own career high for single game goals and tied the school record for single game assists with four, the fourth time the total has been reached in three years.
Heinl, meanwhile, had a hat trick but it was her two caused turnovers that propelled her to become the first in team history to reach 50 career caused turnovers. The aforementioned Hentges contributed a four goal performance as the team's three 100-point career scorers combined for 13 goals in the game.
The result of the huge team performance was the program's second four game winning streak as Concordia has rattled off wins in six of their last seven performances entering a big GLIAC showdown with #12 Indianapolis (14-1, 10-0 GLIAC) on Saturday at noon for senior day. The senior day game will honor the program's lone senior,
Izzy Snow, who had a pair of goals and an assist along with six draw controls tonight.
The victory is also the first outdoor home win in program history, in just their fourth all-time game under the open sky of Sea Foam Stadium on a cool, breezy spring evening.
Snow teamed up with sophomore
Lexi Stanley to combine for 14 of the team's record-tying 21 draw controls and held a strong 21-10 edge on the draw. Stanley's eight draw controls is second-most in a game in team history following last week's record-setting 10 draw control performance. She also had a pair of ground balls and a caused turnover.
In the net, junior goalie
Katie Lottsfeldt was her usual disruptive self and while she only needed to make four saves in the game with CSP dominating possession due to the draw (21-10), turnover (20-11) and ground ball advantages (21-14), the net-minder played a key role in those aspects as well. Lottsfeldt picked off multiple passes leading to three caused turnovers and seven ground balls in the effort.
Freshman
Sara McNicoll also had a strong offensive performance with five points on two goals and an assist and sophomore
Margot Coomes added three points (1g, 2a) and three ground balls off the bench.
Overall, it was a complete team effort as the squad rallied around each other as 11 different players put a ball in the back of the net spanning all four classes in the program.
The Eagles, competing in their inaugural season, were led by Sofia Michael's hat trick and five draw controls while goalie Corynn Schneider made eight saves and secured five ground balls against the feisty Golden Bear attack.
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