#4 Ravens Top Statesmen
Atchison, Kan. — William Penn women’s lacrosse has a better understanding of what a top-NAIA team looks like after their loss at Benedictine. The Ravens dominated the stats and the game, winning by a final score of 27-3. William Penn goes to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference play.
Madison Reed (Fr., Shakopee, Minn., Secondary Education) saw the most action all game, as the Ravens would put up 43 shots on goal over the 60 minutes of action. The hosts were ahead 1-0 after one minute had been played, going up 2-0 two minutes later.
The navy and gold did get on the board right after that to make things interesting. MacKenzie Petersen (Fr., Albertville, Minn., Public Accounting) took a short dish and walked through the top of the arc. She saw an open lane and made a nifty pass to Emma Lady (Sr., Richmond, Ind., Masters of Sports Management), who zipped a low shot into the net to make it 2-1.
After four more goals from Benedictine, the Statesmen found their second goal of the contest. With a BC player getting sent to the sin bin, WPU went a man up. Hiding her run until all eyes were on Lady behind the net, Petersen scampered down main street, collecting the pin-point pass and shooting it in to make it 6-2.
The Ravens took a 13-2 lead into halftime, having outshot WPU 37-3. Reed made 13 saves in the first 30 minutes.
The last offensive bright spot for the Statesmen came just a minute into the second period. After controlling the draw, William Penn set up shop in the attacking end. Hallie Clark (Fr., Centerville, Utah) barraged into a scoring area and got a nice pass from Mia Arnone (Fr., St. Louis, Mo., Digital Communication). With a little time to compose herself, Clark fired it in to make it 13-3.
That was the lone shot of the half for the navy and gold, who were swamped in their own end. With a running clock, the game came to a faster conclusion, with the Ravens winning 27-3. William Penn had been outshot 55-4 in the game and the team won only seven of the 29 draws. Clark had two shots to pace the lineup, while Reed made a total of 16 saves in net.
“The girls played a tough competitor today,” said Head Coach Corrine Smeak. “The score doesn’t reflect the hard work and effort that they put in today. I am proud of the defense for playing tough and not giving up. Our attack was able to score a few goals on the more senior Raven defense. The girls should be proud of what they accomplished today no matter what the score reflects.”
Next Up: Saturday’s game has been bumped up to noon, as the team will head to Ottawa, Kansas, to face the Ottawa Braves (RV).
