TACOMA, Wash. – Linfield women's lacrosse (2-3) strung together a second consecutive win, their first on the road, taking down the Pacific Lutheran Lutes (1-4), 13-2.
 
The goalkeepers for both squads were lock down for the nearly the entire first quarter, while neither offense could find their rhythm early on. Linfield broke the scoreless tie with just nine seconds remaining in the opening quarter, as Apple Riso found Maizri Chandler to take a 1-0 lead after one.
 
Linfield went right back on offense as the start of the second, scoring just 23-seconds into the quarter to go up 2-0. This time, senior Gabby Crist dished the ball to Heidi Schaefer, helping the duo extend the lead to two scores.
 
A short scoring drought was ended once the Wildcats went up a player, scoring near the end of the advantage on a free position shot from Riso. The Lutes answered right back with a man-down score shortly after to make it 3-1. 
 
Crist found Riso for their second goal and assists of the game, followed by Savannah Irwin getting in the mix to help Linfield maintain a comfortable lead. Crist then scored a man-down goal of her own with 3:31 remaining before Irwin and Riso teamed up for the 'Cats seventh and final goal of the first half, leading 7-1.
 
Pacific Lutheran added their second goal to open the scoring in the third period, quickly answered by Irwin who slotted home a free position attempt. Chandler dumped the ball off to Irwin with 9:23 remaining in the third, helping Irwin extend the lead out to 9-2, where the score would remain through the end of the quarter thanks to strong defending by the Wildcats line of Madison DeLaTrinidad, Grayce Miller, Emma Gallegos and especially the keeper, Tenley Hodge. 
 
Linfield piled on four more scores in the fourth, one each by Chandler, Crist, Riso and Schaefer, giving the Wildcats a sizeable 13-2 win, their second in a row. 
 
Freshman Apple Riso set a new career-high for goals in a game, leading the way with four on seven shots. Irwin tallied three on seven shots, while Chandler, Crist and Schaefer also had two a-piece. Tenley Hodge made five saves on eight shots faced, allowing just two Lutes scores for her second win of the season.
 
34-8 was the shot differential in the stat sheet, showing the dominant control on offense paired with a 17-18 clear success rate.
 
The 'Cats compete again one week from today, hosting the Pacific Boxers in McMinnville next Saturday at 1 p.m.
 
To follow Linfield Wildcats coverage all season long, visit golinfieldwildcats.com. Please consider following Linfield Athletics on Facebook, and @LinfieldSports on Instagram and X.com. 
 
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