Statesmen Women’s Lacrosse Capped Off Week
Sioux City. — Taking to the road Friday, William Penn women’s lacrosse certainly capped off their week in striking fashion. In a battle of new lacrosse programs in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, the Statesmen topped the Mustangs of Morningside 21-2, dominating the stat sheet in the process. WPU is now on a three-game win streak and improves to 5-6 overall, 4-4 in KCAC action.
The Mustangs have yet to record a win in their short history and the navy and gold never gave them any hope for a first on Friday. Despite both teams needing to play a little short-handed, the Statesmen did not look phased by the challenge. A clear by WPU just a minute in set up the first attack and Jenna Donlan (Fr., Tampa, Fla., Business Management) found Bailee Royal (Fr., Hallsville, Texas, Sports Management), who scored the opening goal just 1:19 into the game.
Arnone hit the post with her shot on the next possession and Hallie Clark (Fr., Centerville, Utah) had a shot blocked. However, Clark picked up the rebound and threw it over to Donlan. The Florida native wound up and fired it in to make it 2-0 just shy of two-minutes gone. It was soon 3-0 off the stick of Clark, as Paola Cruz (Jr., Ocala, Fla., Biology) picked up her first point on the lacrosse field with the assist. Madison Reed (Fr., Shakopee, Minn., Secondary Education) had not faced a lot of action in the early stages but Morningside finally got their attack set up and they scored on their first shot to make it 3-1.
William Penn controlled the next few minutes, as the Mustangs could not advance the ball very far up the field. With a good ground ball pickup by Victoria Negron (Fr., Miami, Fla., Exercise Science), WPU tossed it to Ashlyn Hoffman (Fr., Bend, Ore., Nursing), who made a quality finish to answer the tally by the Mustangs and make the score 4-1. 26 seconds later, the seas parted for Royal, who drove in unopposed to score once more.
Ahead 5-1, the Statesmen continued to get most of the chances, with a couple shots just missing the cage and the Mustang goalie making a couple big saves. Despite that, it would be WPU who would score next, as Clark banked in her shot with 21:11 left in the half to increase the advantage to 6-1.
Reed would make a couple saves over the next few minutes before Arnone scored again with 16:38 to go. The attacker would double-down and score again almost three minutes later, with Hoffman tagging on another score soon after that to push the lead up to 9-1. After another goal from Arnone, the team got to celebrate another first-time goal scorer after doing so at home against Saint Mary (Kan.). Cruz came open in the middle of the crease and Royal found her with a silky-smooth pass. With a quick shot that put the ball in the back of the net, Cruz posted her first-ever goal in lacrosse, after being denied in the last game by a penalty. A joyous celebration was the reward, as the team went up 11-1.
As the clock neared six minutes to go, Clark would score once more, with the Mustangs posting their second soon after. With time winding down, Arnone scored with 1:26 to go to give the Statesmen a 13-2 lead that they held at halftime. The Statesmen outshot MC 35-7 in the half, as the team also won 13 of the 15 draws. WPU were a perfect 16-16 on successful clearances. Without much action in her end of the field, Reed made three saves in the opening half.
The second half was even better defensively for William Penn as they did not concede in the frame, though they did not equal their offensive output in the first. Clark scored just past the two-minute mark, with Hoffman adding in another four minutes later. Clark then put in the next two goals, with the assists coming from Donlan and Royal.
With 11:46 to go, Royal put the team ahead 18-2 on a superb shot. Arnone and Royal then exchanged goals to end the half, as WPU finished off the Mustangs to the tune of a 21-2 victory.
William Penn unloaded 55 shots, 38 on goal, in the game. The hosts managed just 10 total shots, eight of which were on frame. WPU held a 32-15 edge in ground ball pickups and a 20-3 advantage in the draw circle. The team also had 16 turnovers while the Mustangs had 28.
Arnone set a new personal-record in goals in a single game with six, as she also led the team with 14 shots and 12 shots on goal. Clark also netted six goals, with Royal grabbing four and Hoffman three. Royal had three assists to lead the team. Arnone had seven ground balls to lead the lineup, while Clark had 17 victories in the draw circle. Reed made six saves.
“The girls had another great game,” said Head Coach Corrine Smeak. “They are continuing to play for one another. The teamwork shown on the field continues to improve each game. They are fighting for the ball and showing what they have worked on in practice. Today’s game was incredibly fun to watch, with several girls having success outside of their comfort zone.”
Next Up: The team will continue their road swing and take on Midland tomorrow, Saturday, April 10, at noon.
