University of Wisconsin La Crosse Athletics

River Falls, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse lacrosse team fell, 12-6, at UW-River Falls Friday night at Ramer Field in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Semifinals (presented by Culver's).

The Eagles finish 13-5 on the season while the Falcons improve to 15-3 and will host Colorado College in the tournament championship game on Sunday, May 3. The winner earns the league's automatic bid to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships. 

UWL's 13 wins are a single-season school record. The Eagles won 12 games in 2023 (12-5) and 2024 (12-6).

UW-River Falls never trailed Friday, scoring first from Avery Watzke at 13:13 in the first quarter. UWL tied the game with 10:52 remaining on Megan Maloney's goal off Anna Millard's assist. The Falcons scored the game's next five goals to take a 6-1 lead. Samantha Hayek and Natasha Berthiaume each scored twice to make it 5-1. Elizabeth Clough extended the lead to 6-1 with 4:04 left in the second quarter.

Ava Schiltz cut it to 6-2 with 2:27 remaining on a man-up goal on a Evie Brilz' assist, but goals from Avery Watzke (1:30) and Molly Pierce (:49) gave UW-River Falls an 8-2 advantage. Anna Millard scored with :10 left to cut the halftime lead to 8-3.

Hayek scored her third goal of the game with 5:07 remaining in the third quarter and Watzke's goal with 4:12 left gave the Falcons a 10-3 lead after three quarters.

Brilz opened the scoring in the fourth quarter with a pair of goals to cut the lead to 10-5. Tori Katzenmeyer recorded an assist on the first goal.

UW-River Falls' Murphi Specht scored on a Pierce assist with 10:35 remaining for an 11-5 lead. Katzenmeyer cut it to 11-6 with 7:28 left on Adison Brown's assist before Natasha Berthiaume finished the scoring for the Falcons with 5:01 remaining.

UWL finished with 19 shots, including nine on goal. Brilz led the Eagles with two goals while Millard had a team-high seven shots.

Stefania Rossi took the loss, finishing with five saves and team-leading five ground balls. Maloney had five draw controls.

UW-River Falls had 26 shots with 14 on goal. Hayek and Watzke each had three goals with Watzke adding a team-high three assists. Hayek led the team with eight shots.

Annelise Rommeck earned the win, registering four saves. She also had a team-leading eight ground balls. Two players had two draw controls.