DANVILLE, Ky. - The Linfield lacrosse team picked up their second win in as many games Monday with a hard-fought 15-14 victory at the home of the Centre College Colonels (4-5, 1-1) of the Southern Athletic Association.
The one-point difference made it the tightest match of the year for the Wildcats (3-4, 1-3 NWC).
Maya Wright and
Josie Duey led Linfield in points with five apiece. Wright recorded three assists and two goals on seven shots, three on goal. Duey led the 'Cats in goals with five on a perfect five shot attempts with four of her goals coming in the first half.
The match was back-and-forth from the opening draw with the score tied at four at the end of the first quarter.
Centre opened what would be the biggest lead of the day at 7-4 early in the second, scoring three straight goals in the first two minutes of the quarter.
Linfield countered with three unanswered goals of its own, two from Duey, while buckling down on defense to execute a 3-0 stretch from the 12:40 mark of the quarter until the end of the first half. Duey tied the match at 7-7 with 1:03 left to play in the half off an assist from
Abby Ross.
Makenna Hulette opened the third quarter with a goal off an assist by Ella Treinen just 15 seconds into the second half. Hulette would finish as the leading scorer for the match at nine points, scoring six goals on seven shots on goal to go with three assists.
Linfield immediately countered less than two minutes later, tying the match with a goal from Wright off an assist by
Maia Rezoski before the 'Cats regained the lead on a goal by Rezoski off an assist from Ross just 20 seconds later.
Linfield took their largest lead of the day at 12-10 toward the end of the third when Duey scored off an assist by Wright, followed by an unassisted goal from
Bethany Shade with 51 seconds remaining in the quarter.
Opening the fourth quarter with three straight goals, the Colonels took a 13-12 lead with 10:56 to play. But Linfield tied it back up at 13 on the second unassisted goal of the match from Shade immediately after winning the draw.
With 9:00 to play, Hulette gave Centre its final lead of the day off an assist by Emma Botts. But with 6:21 left,
Amelia Wright tied the match again at 14-14 with an unassisted goal before Ross scored what would turn out to be the game-winning goal just nine seconds later with the assist coming from
Maya Wright.
Locking down on defense over the final six minutes and change, Linfield sealed the victory at 15-14.
Over the course of the match, Linfield controlled 21 draws to Centre's 12 and took 31 shots to Centre's 26. Centre led shots on goals by one, 24-23, while turnovers went even at 20 apiece.
Goalkeeper
Lizzy Harms saved 10 of Centre's 24 shots on goal, bringing her save percentage to 31.3 percent and her win-loss record on the season to 3-2.
NEXT
Linfield continues its trip to Kentucky on Wednesday at Asbury University (0-6) with the opening draw scheduled for 2:00 PST. The 'Cats then visit Georgetown College (7-3) on Friday with the match starting at 4:00 PST. The 'Cats will take next weekend off to travel back to Oregon before hosting Whitman (2-2, 1-2 NWC) on April 2 and Whitworth (2-3, 1-2 NWC) on April 3.
