DURANGO, Colo. – Sophomore goalie
Madison McGriff and senior midfielder
Natalie Church reached career milestones Friday afternoon to lead the University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's lacrosse team to a 20-6 win at Fort Lewis College.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
- Final Score: UCCS 20, Fort Lewis 6
- Records: UCCS (6-4, 3-2 RMAC) | FLC (3-6, 3-2 RMAC)
- Facility | Location: Ray Dennison Memorial Field | Durango, Colo.
- All-Time Series: UCCS has now won their last four games against the Skyhawks to take a 4-2 all-time series lead.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Both teams battled back and forth in the opening quarter, combining for nine goals and 18 shots with the Mountain Lions edging FLC after the first 15 minutes of action, 5-4. UCCS netted the first two goals of the game from free position attempts from Angela Naughton and Church. The Skyhawks goalie committed a foul on Naughton's attack, removing her from her goalie post that resulted in an empty-net goal for Naughton for the first score of the day.
- The Skyhawks knotted the game at 2-2 before Hannah Mill found Julia Patrick's stick for the go-ahead goal. An unassisted goal by FLC's Autumn Rymerson tied the game with four minutes left in the first stanza followed by Makena Carter's goal to give FLC their one and only lead of the contest.
- Hannah Mill scored her first of four goals on the afternoon to tie the game for the final time, 4-4. Church connected with Chloe Harding with 15 ticks left in the first quarter, igniting a 12-0 run by the Mountain Lions.
- UCCS turned the burners on after Harding's goal, outscoring the Skyhawks 7-0 in the second quarter and outshooting them, 11-1. Church and Mill took turns scoring the first five goals of the quarter as Church found the back of the net three times.
- Leading 12-4 at halftime, Mill chalked up her fourth score of the game just 38 seconds into the second half. FLC's Rebecca Kiyokawa stopped the 12-0 UCCS scoring spree and broke a 27-minute scoreless drought for the Skyhawks. Haley Dotsie scored the sixth and last goal for FLC as the Mountain Lions poured on seven more goals to close out the game.
- Olivia Evans highlighted the scoring run with a free-position goal at 8:07 in the fourth quarter and chipped in the next two goals for a natural hat trick.
GAME STATISTICS
- UCCS scored seven free-position goals with Church netting a game high two. She led both teams with five goals and two assists. Mill, who finished with four goals and two assists, matched Church's game high eight shot attempts. Mill also accounted for two of the Mountain Lions' three caused turnovers.
- Patrick, Morgan Miller and Meghan Weiss each picked up a team high two ground balls.
- Evans' hat trick today was the first of her career.
- McGriff played all 60 minutes in goal, making nine saves.
- UCCS bested Fort Lewis in shots (34-23), shots on goal (27-25) and saves (9-7) while FLC edged the Mountain Lions in ground balls, 11-10.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- McGriff became the all-time saves leader, surpassing Kenney Travis' 191 saves. After today's game, McGriff has 193 career saves.
- Church overtook Vanessa Nelson's top career mark of 174 shots on goal and now has 180 shots on goal. She also reached the 300-mark for draw controls. Entering the game with 295 draws, Church finished the game with 304 draws. Her draw control with 1:51 left in the first half marked her 300th draw control, and her nine draws today are the second most ever won in a game.
- The 20 goals scored today are the most this season and the most goals scored since last year's season-opener against Westminster College on March 5, 2021 (W, 20-11). The 20 goals are also the third most ever scored in a game in program history.
- Today's seven free-position goals ties the program record for most scored in a game. Seven of UCCS' goals against Westminster on March 5, 2021 were also free position goals.
UP NEXT
- Sunday's game at Adams State University has been postponed. The Mountain Lions will now take on No. 6 Regis University on Tuesday, April 14 at 5 p.m. before heading down to Colorado State University on Thursday for a 4 p.m. match.
SOCIAL
Twitter - @GoMountainLions
Instagram - @gomountainlions
Facebook – Go Mountain Lions
As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 16 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.
