MEQUON, Wis. – The CUW women's lacrosse team took on the Monmouth Fighting Scots in their second matchup in two days on Sunday afternoon.
The Falcons improved to 4-6 on the year with a 19-4 victory at Fitting Field.
The Blue and White never gave up the lead after scoring just 47 seconds into the matchup. Sophomore Natalie Mackrell (Stuttgart, Germany) netted the opening goal for the Falcons off an assist from fellow women's hockey athlete Kami McCardle (Jackson, Wis.).
The Fighting Scots tied the matchup at one with just under seven minutes to play in the quarter.
The birds went on a five-goal run to close the first quarter. The first two came off a yellow card to the Falcons and the Blue and White recorded their first-multi goal game on a woman-down opportunity. Junior Olivia Niego (La Grange, Ill.) recorded the first off an assist from fellow junior Savannah Schweiger (Eagle, Wis.) and freshman Katelyn Cardinale (Mount Laurel, N.J.) netted the second with an assist from McCardle.) Cardinale scored her second goal of the game off an assist from Mackrell who also assisted on a goal from freshman Ella Maltby (Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich.) to claim a 5-1 lead late in the first quarter. Niego netted an unassisted goal to cap off the first quarter.
Cardinale opened the second quarter hot with the first two goals. The first was assisted by Maltby and the second by Mackrell. Ella Maltby scored the ninth Falcon goal on an unassisted opportunity.
The Fighting Scots scored their second goal of the matchup with just over 10 minutes left in the half.
Cardinale was dominant and scored her fifth goal of the game off a pass from Mackrell. Cardinale then assisted on Ella Maltby's next goal to push the Falcon lead to 11-2. Maltby Netted the final goal of the frame to give the birds the 12-2 lead heading into halftime and invoking the 10-goal slaughter rule and a running clock. This is the second straight game the Falcons benefitted from a running clock.
Senior Grace Wilshire (Pittsburg, Pa.) opened the second half with her first goal of the season with an assist from sophomore Ava Karlov (Naperville, Ill.). Junior Anna Gong (Phoenix, Ariz.) netted her first goal of the game with an assist from junior Eliana Fuchs (Brookfield, Wis.) who then followed that up with a goal of her own off an assist from McCardle. Niego found the back of the net with an assist from Karlov to make it 16-2 in favor of the birds.
Monmouth finished the quarter with a goal for their third of the contest.
Schweiger started the Falcon scoring in the final frame with an assist from Fuchs. Fuchs then assisted Gong for the 18th Falcon goal. Wilshire claimed her first assist of the game with a goal from Niego for the hat trick and the final Falcon goal.
The Fighting Scots scored in each quarter with a free-position goal with 1:15 remaining in the matchup.
The Falcons broke the individual game record for both total points and assists with 40 points and 16 assists.
Cardinale led the offense with six points on five goals and one assist.
The Falcons led in almost every statistical category including 40 shots and 35 ground balls.
The Blue and White are back in action on Wednesday for their fourth and final game of this four-game homestand.
