UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's lacrosse team (6-9, 3-4 GLIAC) earned a dominant 19-5 victory over the Cardinals of Saginaw Valley State (1-11, 0-5 GLIAC) on a sunny Friday afternoon at Braddock Field.
With today's victory CSP is now 4-0 all-time against the Cardinals by a combined goal margin of 74-16.
The magic of the day was led by freshman Shelby Marik and senior Susie Monson who combined for eight goals and 10 points in the win to help guide the Golden Bears to their first back-to-back wins of the season.
Joining the duo on the offensive attack was Shelby Hansen and Alayna Roehl who recorded five points each. In addition to the four five point players Kaci Kotschevar, Lauren Barnacle, Sydney Smith, Nora LeBlanc, Jayde Isaacson and Mackenzie Moir each added to the scoring party.
The Cardinals got off to a 2-0 start to begin the game before CSP's momentum began and never saw an end. Monson and Hansen scored back-to-back goals to tie the match up with eight minutes remaining in the first quarter.
A 5-1 run from the Navy and Gold ended the first with a 7-3 Golden Bear lead with goals from Monson, Roehl and a hat-trick from Mark. Marik's hat-trick marked her sixth of the season.
The second quarter was all Navy and Gold, scoring six unanswered goals from Kotschevar, LeBlanc, Barnacle, Smith, Monson and Isaacson to take a 13-3 lead into the break.
In the third quarter both teams added a pair of goals with Concordia holding a 10 goal-lead, 15-5.
The final quarter stayed in the hands of the Golden Bears, holding the Cardinals scoreless while adding four additional goals to give CSP the 19-5 lead.
As a team, the Navy and Gold held an advantage in every single stat category, tallying 40 shots to the SVSU's 12.
In addition CSP recorded a 33-8 shot on goal advantage, forcing 21 turnovers and winning draw controls 18-7.
The offensive effort by the Golden Bears proved to be one of their most productive with the defense standing tall throughout the entirety of the contest.
Junior goalkeepers Marge Lucio and Erika Holm both split time in today's game with Holm starting and Lucio coming in for second half relief. Lucio made four saves to bring her season total to 67.
Joining the goalies on the defensive effort was Natalie Brownfield with a career-high seven ground balls and Moir with a season-high three caused turnovers.
Monson led the draw control effort winning six to surpass 300 career draw controls and notched her 71st of the season.
The Golden Bears will return home next Saturday for their final regular-season game, taking on the Wildcats of Northern Michigan inside the Concordia Dome for Senior Day. First-draw is scheduled for 11 a.m.
Looking ahead at the postseason, the Navy and Gold have clinched a spot in the GLIAC Lacrosse Tournament, seeding is still to be announced. The tournament is scheduled to take place May. 3-5 at the site of the highest seed.
