Photo Gallery, IWU vs. Hamline

Postgame Press Conferences:  Illinois Wesleyan   |   Hamline

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- The Illinois Wesleyan women's lacrosse team earned their first ever NCAA tournament victory on Sunday, May 13 with an 18-8 victory over Hamline University. This is the team's second overall trip to the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse championships in the programs four-year history.

With a win the Titans increased their winning-streak to 12 and improved to 16-3 overall for the season. Illinois Wesleyan advances to face No. 4-ranked Middlebury College (17-2) in the Sweet 16 on Saturday, May 19 with the time and location yet to be decided. The Panthers, riding an eight-game winning-streak, advanced with an 18-5 win over Babson College on Sunday. In the other regional game at that location, York will face Catholic with the winners meeting on Sunday with a trip to the final four on the line.

The bracket for the Division III tournament can be viewed here.

After conceding the first goal of the game, Illinois Wesleyan bounced back to take a 4-1 advantage over the Pipers with goals from junior Dani Engelbreit (x2), junior Grainne Kelly, and freshman Riley Rooney. With 12:02 remaining in the first half Hamline capped off a 3-0 run with a goal from Kalley Elwell to tie the game at four. IWU ended the half on a 4-0 outburst that featured two more goals from Engelbreit, one from Kelly, and one by way of sophomore Amanda Best. Rooney assisted on three first half goals in addition to her one goal.

Teams traded goals for the first 15 minutes of the second half before Kelly and senior Mariah Smith scored within a minute of each other to give Illinois Wesleyan a 13-7 lead. An Elwell goal made the score 13-8 in favor of IWU with 12 minutes left in regulation. The Titans ended the game on a 5-0 run with goals from Engelbreit, Kelly, Rooney, Smith, and junior Sam Bidlack.

Freshman Janaye Godfrey was victorious in goal, making nine saves and allowing eight goals in 54:14 of action. Godfrey turned in a strong performance when facing free-position shots as the Pipers finished 3-of-10. Senior Claire Quist was instrumental in keeping Hamline off the scoreboard late making a big save on a breakaway attempt from the Pipers with 2:51 remaining in the game.

SIGNIFICANT STATISTICS

• Illinois Wesleyan out-shot the Pipers 36-28 overall and 29-18 in shots on goal.
• The Titans were 17-of-18 on their clearance attempts and held Hamline to a 16-of-23 performance.
• IWU won 21-of-28 draw controls during the contest and were led in the draw by Engelbreit who won nine.
• Engelbreit's six goals on Sunday marked a new career-high for the junior who's previous high of five was set twice prior.
• Rooney set a new-career high in assists with three.

TITAN TEAM LEADERS
Points: Engelbreit (6), Kelly (6), Rooney (6)
Goals: Engelbreit (6), Kelly (4), Rooney (3)
Assists: Bidlack (4), Rooney (3), Kelly (2)
Ground Balls: Kelly (4), Smith (4), Best (3)
Caused Turnovers: Six with (1)
Draw Controls: Engelbreit (9), Smith (6), Kelly (2), Maggie Torres (1)