The No. 6 ranked Lindenwood women's lacrosse team defeated the CSU-Pueblo Thunderwolves 14-3 on Thursday afternoon from Pueblo, Colo.
The Lady Lions took control of the game from its onset, scoring the first five goals over a 5:10 stretch.
Rachel Benzing opened the scoring for Lindenwood, finding the back of the cage just 80 seconds into play. Just 52 seconds after Benzing's unassisted goal,
Sophie Buelow added an unassisted score of her own, giving the Lady Lions a two-goal lead.
Morgan Judd and
Allison Hurley accounted for the next three Lindenwood goals, with Judd scoring twice, pushing the Lady Lions in front 5-0. CSU-Pueblo would get on the board, scoring its first goal with 19:14 remaining in the first-half. Lindenwood responded by pouring in the next four goals, extending its lead to 9-1 with under nine minutes to play in the opening period. Hurley,
Maddi Ossello, Benzing, and
Sarah Cromer registered the Lady Lion goals. Lindenwood and CSU-Pueblo would each score twice more during the first-half of play, bringing the score to 11-3 after 30 minutes of play.
The second-half was largely a possession battle, dominated by Lindenwood. The Lady Lions notched the only three scores of the half, receiving goals from Ossello,
Erin Abbott, and
Hunter Waldau, growing their lead to the eventual final of 14-3. In goal for Lindenwood,
Rachel Ortell made three saves en route to her seventh victory of the season.
For the game, the Lady Lions had the advantage in shots (34-7), draw controls (12-5), and ground balls (23-19).
Nine different Lady Lions tallied a point in the victory, led by Benzing's career-high seven point performance. Three Lady Lions tied for the team lead in ground balls, with Abbott,
Jordyn Constance, and
Molly Beckham each scooping up three ground balls. Abbott led the way for Lindenwood on the defensive end of the field, causing a team-best three turnovers.
Constance, Buelow, and
Hannah Doughty all extended their personal point streaks to 15 games, as the trio remained the only three members of the team to notch at least one point in every game this season. Constance has scored in 29 straight games for the Lady Lions dating back to March 22, 2015 versus Adams State.
Following the 14-3 victory, the Lady Lions improve their record to 13-2 on the season and 5-0 in conference play. With the loss, the Thunderwolves move to 7-6 on the season and 2-2 from within the RMAC. Lindenwood will conclude its current three-game road-trip on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. MT as they travel to Alamosa, Colo. for a conference clash with the Adams State Grizzlies.
