SEWANEE, Tenn. -- The Illinois Wesleyan women's lacrosse team defeated Sewanee: The University of the South on Monday, March 13 by a final score of 9-7. Reigning College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) women's lacrosse "Defensive Player of the Week"
Dani Engelbreit led the team in scoring with five goals.
With a win the Titans improved to 4-3 on the season overall while Sewanee fell to 6-3 on the season.
Illinois Wesleyan was outshot by the Colonels 28-23 overall and 20-9 in the second half. In a hard fought contest the Titans converted on 17-of-32 clearance attempts and held Sewanee to an 18-of-25 performance. IWU held an advantage in draw controls 11-7 which included eight won draws by Engelbreit.
In addition to the five goals from Engelbreit, senior
Abby Kushina added two. Junior
Sam Bidlack and freshman
Riley Rooney each scored one goal, with Bidlack leading the team in assists with two. Engelbreit was the team-leader in ground balls with five and caused three turnovers. Senior
Mariah Smith led the team in caused turnovers with four.
Freshman
Janaye Godfrey was the goalkeeper of record for the Titans making 10 saves and allowing seven goals.
The Titans trailed Sewanee 3-2 early on in the match, but a 4-0 run to close the first half provided the Titans with a 6-3 lead at the break. Engelbreit scored two of her five goals to pace IWU during their run.
Sewanee scored the first two goals of the second half to pull within one goal of the Titans, but goals from Engelbreit and Kushina put the Titans back up 8-5 with 12 minutes remaining in the contest. After Engelbreit scored her final goal of the match at the 3:33 mark the Illinois Wesleyan defense held strong, clearing away three shot attempts and causing one turnover.
Preston Cooper and Anna Comer led the Colonels with two goals apiece. Grace Fulton was a defensive stalwart for Sewanee picking up seven ground balls and causing six turnovers. Brianna Young took the loss in goal allowing nine goals and making nine saves.
What's Next?
Illinois Wesleyan will continue their road trip on Wednesday, March 14 with a 6:30 p.m. match against Denison University in Granville, Ohio. Denison is currently 2-1 on the season with their only loss coming against No. 1-ranked Gettysburg.
