St. Paul, Minn. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse lacrosse team improved to 12-4 overall and 6-2 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) with a 17-7 victory at Hamline University (Minn.) Saturday afternoon at Flas Field in the regular season finale for both teams.
The Pipers drop to 10-5 overall and 3-5 in the conference.
With the win, UWL ties its single-season school record set in 2023 (12-5) and 2024 (12-6). The Eagles' six WIAC victories ties the school record set last year (6-3).
Hamline (Minn.) scored the first game's first two goals with Emma Collins scoring at 9:57 of the first quarter on Reagan Zywicki's assist. The Pipers made it 2-0 with Emma Halweg scoring with 8:33 remaining. UWL forced a 2-2 tie after the first quarter with
Evie Brilz scoring both goals. Her goal at 7:30 cut it to 2-1 on
Ava Schiltz' assist and her tying goal with 1:14 left tied the game with
Emily Wrobbel recording an assist.
UWL scored the first four goals of the second quarter.
Megan Maloney's goal with 14:33 remaining gave the Eagles a 3-2 lead with a man-up goal on a free position shot. Brilz extended the lead to 4-2 with a man-down goal. Maloney and
Adison Brown gave UWL a 6-2 lead. Wrobbel assisted Brown's goal.
The Pipers cut it to 6-3 with 5:51 left in the second quarter on Ema Rehder's goal on a free position shot, but Schiltz' goal with 4:16 remaining gave the Eagles a 7-3 advantage. Hamline (Minn.) cut the lead to 7-4 at halftime as Kayli Starkey scored a man-up goal on a Collins assist with 2:56 remaining in the first half.
UWL took a 10-6 lead after three quarters with goals from Schiltz, Maloney (man-up; free position shot) and Brilz. Maloney and Schiltz recorded assists. Hamline (Minn.) got goals from Zywicki and Rehder in the quarter with Lauren Moorhouse and Starkey having assists.
After Aio Suzuki scored on a free position shot for Hamline (Minn.) with 14:25 remaining in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 10-7, UWL scored the last seven goals to earn a 17-7 lead. Schiltz (11:31) and Maloney (9:25; man-up) extended UWL's lead to 12-7.
Anna Millard assisted on the Schiltz goal. Schiltz added two more goals (one by free position shot) in the run with Maloney recording the other.
Tori Katzenmeyer scored the last two goals.
UWL finished with 35 shots in the game with 24 on goal. Schiltz and Maloney scored five goals with Brilz finishing with four. Schiltz and Wrobbel had a team-high two assists.
Millard and
Lydia Spencer had four ground balls while Schiltz finished with a team-high eight draw controls.
Stefania Rossi earned the win, recording five saves.
Hamline (Minn.) had 18 shots, including nine on goal. Rehder had two goals.
Rehder and Daviney McKay led the Pipers with two ground balls. Moorhouse had five draw controls. Lola Brouwer suffered the loss, registering 12 saves.
UWL returns to action Wednesday, April 29 hosting a WIAC Tournament First Round game at 5 p.m. The Eagles, the tournament's third-seed, will host sixth-seeded Hamline (Minn.).
