AURORA, Ill. -- The Illinois Wesleyan University women's lacrosse team dodged Winter Storm Uma and defeated Aurora University by a final score of 13-3 on Saturday, March 24. Junior Grainne Kelly led the team in scoring with four goals and three assists for a game-high seven points.

With a win the Titans improved to 6-4 on the season and have now won two straight contests. Aurora fell to 3-3 on the season with a loss.

IWU out-shot the Spartans 28-11 overall and 23-9 in shots on goal to hold a sizable advantage. Illinois Wesleyan was sturdy on their clearance defense holding Aurora to a 12-of-25 performance. On the offensive side IWU converted on 13-of-19 clear attempts. The Titans were also successful on the draw winning 12-of-18 draw controls. Junior Dani Engelbreit won a game-high six draw controls for IWU.

Also scoring for the Titans was senior Mariah Smith (3), senior Abby Kushina (2), senior Heather Grimmer (1), junior Claudia Richman (1), Engelbreit (1), and freshman Riley Rooney (1). Smith, Kushina, and Engelbreit each added one assist to their final tally. Kelly led the team in ground balls with seven and was followed closely by Smith and Engelbreit who each picked up six. Sophomore Amanda Best, Richman, and Rooney each caused a team-high three turnovers.

Freshman Janaye Godfrey was the Titans goalkeeper of record on Saturday making two saves and allowing one goal in the first half. Senior Claire Quist played the entire second half in goal for Illinois Wesleyan making four saves and allowing two goals.

Illinois Wesleyan stole the momentum early scoring five unanswered goals to open the game. Aurora scored just once in the first half as the Titans held a 7-1 advantage heading into halftime. The first half ended in excitement as the two sides combined to score four goals in the final 1:20 of action.

Defensively, Illinois Wesleyan held the Spartans scoreless for just over 16 minutes to start the second half as they built an 8-1 lead. IWU scored the games final three goals to take a 13-3 lead and start the running clock.

Marina Kanner led the Spartans in scoring with one goal and one assist. Emma Martel and Andrea Colford were the team-leaders in ground balls with seven apiece. Martel and Colford each caused three turnovers in addition to their ground balls.

Reilly Armstrong was the losing goalkeeper allowing 13 goals and making 10 saves.

What's Next?
Illinois Wesleyan opens play in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) on Saturday, April 7 with a 3:30 p.m. contest against Augustana College. Augustana was last season's CCIW regular season champion and currently own a 6-2 record. The Vikings will face both Aurora and North Central prior to facing Illinois Wesleyan.