WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. --- After a dominant first quarter, the Life University women's lacrosse team breezes their way into the Mid-South Conference Semifinals, earning the 23-5 victory over Marian Thursday afternoon.
 
Marian (5-11) recorded the first goal of the contest, but Life U (15-4) furiously responded, running off 11 goals over the remaining 12 and a half minutes of the opening period to push the game into running clock before the start of the second quarter. The goals came in bunches during the first, Brianna Freeman posting three scores during the team's run, while Maria Arvizu and Kelly Beshaw both recorded a pair of goals. Life U's defense continued to take advantage of the Knights in the second quarter, again holding them scoreless as the Running Eagles slowed things down to go into the half with a 14-1 lead.
 
The slowed offensive attack seemed to continue into the third quarter, the Running Eagles' first goal in the third being Freeman's fifth of the contest with 8:31 to go in the period. A pair of tricky Arvizu scores and Nina Sutton's first of the contest saw Life U's unanswered streak extend to 18 as they went into the final period of play with plenty of breathing room at 18-1. After getting to rotate in most of the backups, Marian managed to find the back of the net a couple of times. Defensive specialist Leanne Windon posted a pair of goals in the fourth, while with time expiring Emily DeJesus earned her first of the season to give the final score of 23-5.

The scoring attack for Life U was led by MSC Offensive Player of the Year Maria Arvizu and her First Team All-Conference teammate, Brianna Freeman. Arvizu posted led all players in points with five goals and three assists, while Freeman followed closely behind with five goals and two assists. Three players earned a pair of goals, those being Beshaw; Nicole Ortiz who added an assist, five ground balls and two caused turnovers; and Windon who also had two ground balls and caused turnovers. Korenza Heath had a solid game in goal, earning five saves to the only four goals allowed.

Life U kept pressure on Marian side of the field, taking much more shots, 43-17, in large part due to how much cleaner the Running Eagles managed to be on the draw control, 15-for-18 to 8-for-17. The Running Eagles also did a better job of forcing the Knights into mistakes and taking advantage of them, leading caused turnovers, 11-5 and ground balls, 22-11. Marian held a slight edge in draw controls, 15-14, and an expectedly larger lead in saves, 11-5.

With the victory, Life U moves on to the conference semifinals, preparing for a showdown against top-seeded and second ranked University of the Cumberlands Friday at 1:30 PM.