Titans during anthem against Augsburg Feb. 22, 2026

Audrey Peterson

Women’s Lacrosse Travels to UW-La Crosse For Saturday Bout

Titans face Eagles at 12 p.m.

3/6/2026 11:30:00 AM

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Coming off an 11-10 comeback win over Cornell College Wednesday night, March 4, the Illinois Wesleyan University women's lacrosse team travels to University of Wisconsin-La Crosse for a 12 p.m. contest Saturday, March 7. The Titans (3-2) will meet the Eagles (2-0) at the Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.

Illinois Wesleyan enters the weekend after two goals in the final minute of play lifted the Titans past the Rams Wednesday night. Senior Sadie Newton (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) found the equalizing goal with just under a minute to play, and followed by winning the ensuing draw. Setting up the offense quickly, sophomore Sophie Shore (St. Peters, Mo.-Francis Howell Central) found fellow sophomore Lillie Keeton (Bloomington, Ill.-Bloomington) for a goal to put the Green and White in front with 37 seconds left on the clock. Newton and fellow senior Anelise DiGiovanni (Lockport, Ill.-Lockport Township) led the team with five points apiece, both scoring three goals to go along with two assists. Newton also tallied a team-high five ground balls and five caused turnovers. Shore led the team with eight draw controls. Freshman Allison Vervynck (Overland Park, Kan.-Saint Thomas Aquinas) picked up her first career win in goal, as she made six saves in the second half.

DiGiovanni leads the offense five games into the season with 25 points, the 12th-most in Division III. Her 13 assists lead the team and rank second nationally, while she sits tied with Keeton for second on the squad with 12 goals. Shore's 20 points are good for second on the team, composed of 11 goals and nine assists. Newton leads IWU with 14 goals, and has added two assists to enter the weekend with 16 points.

At the draw, Newton's 28 draw controls are a team-high, followed by 21 from Shore. Senior Sarah Riepe (Aurora, Ill.-St. Francis) rounds out the top-three with 17 draws. The same three also lead the Green and White in ground balls, but in a slightly different order. Newton sits atop the team with 24 ground balls, while Riepe is second with 15. Shore is tied for third with 12, as sophomore Marli Brown (Kansas City, Mo.-Notre Dame de Sion) has also scooped up a dozen.

On the defensive side, Illinois Wesleyan ranks 12th in the nation in caused turnovers per game with an average of 16. Leading the way is Newton with 21 forced miscues, as her average of 4.20 caused turnovers per game sits 16th nationally. Shore's 15 caused turnovers rank second on the team, while Riepe is third with 10.

In goal, Brown leads the way with 32 saves in 180 minutes of action, entering with a .438 save percentage and a 2-2 record. Vervynck has spent the other 120 minutes between the iron, logging 18 saves and a .409 clip en route to a 1-0 mark.

The Green and White will face UW-La Crosse for the fourth time, with the Eagles holding a 2-1 advantage. UWL was the winner of the most recent meeting March 6, 2025, taking the road win, 16-4. Mia Fiandaca tallied a team-high three points, all coming on goals, five draw controls, and five ground balls. Then-freshman Brooke Ayres (Sun Prairie, Wis.-Sun Prairie East) notched a team-best five caused turnovers, while Lizzie Rymarcsuk recorded nine saves in goal. UWL enters the weekend off a 17-5 win at Milwaukee School of Engineering Wednesday, March 4.

A live stream of the game can be found here.

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