Statesmen Fall in Home Opener to Braves

Oskaloosa--The William Penn women's lacrosse team struggled in its first home test of the year, falling 26-9 to Ottawa (Kan.) in non-conference action Saturday.

WPU (0-3), which was outshot 48-22, could not overcome 23 turnovers (11 for Ottawa).

The hosts scored first with Emily Ferguson (Sr., Waterloo, N.Y., Exercise Science) getting a ball past the OU goalkeeper just 35 seconds into the contest.

Unfortunately, the Braves (1-4) countered with five unanswered goals.  Ferguson then kept the navy and gold within striking distance in the opening period as she tallied a pair of scores, matching the visiting crew's late goals as WPU trailed 7-3 after 15 minutes of high-scoring play.

The matchup did not get tighter, however, with Ottawa outscoring the Statesmen 6-2 in the second stanza.  Ashlyn Hoffman (Sr., Bend, Ore., Nursing) managed each of WPU's goals, both coming off passes from Kenzington Winget (Sr., West Jordan, Utah., Political Science).

Hoffman tacked on two more tallies in the third, while Ferguson produced a goal.  William Penn played its best ball in the third period, getting outscored just 5-3.

Ferguson then recorded one final goal in the fourth.  The senior, who scored a team-high five goals, also won eight draw controls Saturday.  Hoffman scored on all four of her shot attempts.

Catrina Dinehart (Grad., Palmyra, N.Y., Master's of Sports Management) stopped 14 shots in front of the cage and also collected six ground balls.  Overall, the navy and gold lost the ground ball battle 25-18.

"Today we came out too hot and too fast and we got burned on the back end because of it," Head Coach Joshua Bell said.  "Lots of factors played into where the control of the field went, and that is something we are working to control in the future.  Spring break will be good to the ladies in helping them reset their minds and bodies for the next eight weeks."

Next Up: William Penn is off until Saturday, March 23 when it returns to Oskaloosa to host Mount Mercy in Heart of America Athletic Conference play at 4 p.m.