ST. PAUL, Minn. – Crossing off another 'first' on the to-do checklist in establishing the women's lacrosse program, Concordia-St. Paul's young squad put together an impressive performance in a 19-10 home exhibition game against the University of Minnesota club program at the Concordia Dome at Sea Foam Stadium.
 
The next hurdle for the Golden Bears is the inaugural game on Friday, February 10 at 7 p.m. at the Concordia Dome against Robert Morris (Ill.). The team will also host Marian (Ind.) that weekend on Sunday at 11:30 a.m., with Marian and Robert Morris playing each other on Saturday.
 
Freshman Alina Boyce led all players with seven goals, adding an assist for an eight point performance. She was instrumental in building the lead early, and finished strong to help the Golden Bears expand the margin late.
 
With three full weeks of official season practice under their belts, combined with the allotted fall season practice and scrimmage schedule, the Golden Bears were able to shake off early game nerves while playing in a live-game setting for the first time.
 
Competing in their official white game uniforms against the Gophers in their black game jerseys, the Golden Bears jumped out to a 3-0 lead as Boyce scored the first goal and set-up fellow freshman Kailey Heinl on the second goal. The team's most seasoned player, Grand Valley State junior transfer Kallie LaValle scored on a free position shot just over seven minutes into play as CSP put together the three goals in an impressive two and a half minute burst.
 
LaValle finished the day with a team-high four assists and matched Heinl's five points (all goals).
 
Following adjustments to the jitters in the opening minutes, Concordia remained consistent at attacking the cage, using solid speed and ball movement to create solid scoring chances.
 
The early 3-0 lead immediately challenged as the Gophers' Angie Hepplemann scored 51 seconds later.
 
Concordia responded with another 3-0 burst, with Heinl and Boyce scored the second and third goals of the run that started with a Sidney Schreiner score. Schreiner had three points, scoring twice and assisting on another.
 
The Golden Bear defense was aggressive in keeping Minnesota out of its attack, pushing up to cause 30 turnovers leading to a 35-24 margin in ground balls and a 35-24 shot margin.
 
Minnesota was able to narrow the CSP lead to three just three times the rest of the day, at 6-3, 7-4 and for the final time at 10-7 10 minutes into the second half.
 
Concordia carried a 9-5 lead into halftime with Heinl leading the team with three first half goals while Boyce put in a pair and added an assist.
 
Following Minnesota coming within three at 10-7 with just over 20 minutes to go, Boyce took control. She scored four goals in a 12 minute stretch to extend the lead to 18-10 before sophomore Sheala Osborne netted the final goal on a pass from LaValle with five and a half minutes left.
 
Osborne, a transfer from Augsburg and the club's only other upperclassman, scored a pair of goals.
 
In the net, freshman Katie Lottsfeldt protected the lead by making nine saves in a consistent performance, allowing five goals in each half while playing all 60 minutes. She also scooped up a team-high eight ground balls.
 
Lottsfeldt was provided solid security by the defense in front of her as freshman Brooke Genzler snared four ground balls and three draw controls and although their results didn't appear in the box score, freshman Sara Stickler also helped control the defensive zone with one of her back line teammates primarily responsible for shutting down top Gopher offensive threat Sara Woodring, a former Miss Minnesota finalist as a prep.
 
Kara Vana led Minnesota with four goals while no other Gopher scored multiple goals.