MARIETTA, Ga. --- The No. 4 Life University women's lacrosse team ended its March homestand with a dominant showing against conference foe (RV) Ave Maria, securing a 20-2 victory at Lupo Family Field Saturday afternoon.
Life U (10-2, 2-1 MSC) opened the first period with a flurry of goals, putting Ave Maria (3-7, 0-2 MSC) in a 3-0 hole just three and a half minutes into the contest. Play slowed down over the 11:28 that remained in the first, as neither team found another goal until
Nina Sutton scored with just six seconds left. The Running Eagles took the game over completely in the second quarter, running off eight goals in 15 minutes to push the game into a running clock situation.
Angie Forbes got the Running Eagles started in the second half, scoring her fifth goal of the game with 13:25 to play in the third. Five more goals were scored in the period to see Life U hold a lopsided 18-0 advantage going into the final quarter. the team's traded goals in the final 15 minutes of play, the Running Eagles losing the shutout with 7:16 to play, and going on to win 20-2.
Forbes had the game of her young career Saturday, registering a game-leading seven goals on just seven attempted shots for a perfect shooting percentage.
Maria Arvizu and
Alyssa Curto were the only other players to score multiple goals, both of them registering two. Arvizu had another game stuffing the stat sheet, leading all players with nine ground balls and nine caused turnovers. Other goal scorer's included:
Brianna Freeman,
Leanne Windon,
Nina Sutton,
Lacy Legaspi,
Kelly Beshaw,
Lexi Santiago,
Sandra Wright,
Nicole Ortiz, and
Peyton Sanders. Santiago did a good job of seeing the field, assisting on a career best three goals during the game. Windon had another stellar day defensively, collecting three ground balls, three draw controls, and six caused turnovers.
Korenza Heath held things down in goal, earning four saves on the Gyrene's limited shooting opportunities.
Life U held a strong edge in shots, 40-12; ground balls, 31-12; and caused turnovers, 24-6. Ave Maria did a great job on the draw, earning 14 to Life U's 11, also leading saves 11-4.
Life U hits the road for the next couple of weeks, starting with a Michigan trip. The team begins the road trip with a game at (RV) Concordia Univ. Tuesday, March 29 at 3 PM.
