GAMBIER – After starting with six road games, the Kenyon College women’s lacrosse team won its first home game of the season, as the Ladies dominated the University of Mount Union, 18-8.
The Ladies moved to 6-1 on the season while Mount Union slides to 2-2.
Starting the game, Julia Losey won the draw control to set up the Kenyon offense. After a series of passes, Maddie Garner found Losey in front of the net for the game’s opening goal. Mount Union tied the game at 1-1 with 13:05 left in the first quarter, but it was all Kenyon from then on. Caroline O’Neil, Losey and Brett Bearrows tacked on goals in a span of 2 1/2 minutes to put the Ladies up 4-1. O’Neil went on a scoring spree to end the quarter, netting three goals in the final 6 minutes.
Opening the second quarter, Bearrows forced a turnover to put Kenyon in transition. From there, the Ladies set up their offense. O’Neil beat her defender and turned the corner to get enough space to rip a shot past the Mount Union goalkeeper. Goals by Ella Murphy and Garner brought the game to 10-1. The Raiders scored with just under 10 minutes before halftime to end the Ladies’ streak of nine straight goals. Mount Union scored another goal with 7:41 remaining in the half, but Kenyon answered right back with two more. The Raiders tallied their fourth goal with 30 seconds to go in the half but still faced a 12-4 deficit.
In the third quarter, Tatumn Eccleston pushed the Ladies’ lead to 13-4 less than 90 seconds into the period. Emma Hutchison put Kenyon up by 10 to start the running clock with 11:43 in the third. Mount Union stopped the clock on a goal with 9:42 but a pair of Kenyon goals started it back up again. At the end of the third, the Ladies held a commanding 16-6 lead.
With the clock still rolling in the fourth, Mallory Brophy and Garner pushed the Kenyon lead to 12 with 6:23 left in the game. Mount Union scored two in the final 2 1/2 minutes, but the Ladies easily ran out the time.
O’Neil led the Ladies with five goals and two assists, followed by Garner’s three goals and two assists. In goal, Nola Garand registered the win in her 54 minutes in net. As a team, Kenyon outshot Mount Union 34-18, with the Ladies holding a 27-13 advantage in shots on goal.
