Ashland University womens’ lacrosse played against Gannon University and Lake Erie on Tuesday, March 18 and Wednesday, March 19 – respectively.
The Gannon University game had been rescheduled from February 22 due to poor weather conditions.
The Eagles found their first victory against Gannon University on Tuesday in a final score of 15-8.
This was the last game for the Eagles before they begin conference play against Lake Erie.
Many Eagles had good performances that helped contribute to their win against Gannon. Seven Eagles scored at least one goal. Junior attacker Ashley Fisher led the way with five goals and one assist for a total of six points. Junior goalkeeper Annie Duncan had a season-high-tying ten saves in one game, while also having a season-low in goals in a game.
Ashland majorly out-shot Gannon 33-21, and they forced 25 turnovers from the Golden Knights.
The team has begun to see an improvement in teamwork from the beginning of this season. Head coach Lauren Smiko finds the team is now becoming more balanced: “The defense is doing their job, and the attack is doing their job, and everybody’s doing their role, and it’s fun to watch it.”
As the team headed into play against Lake Erie, this improvement in team communication is encouraging, and the players are seeing it too. Goalkeeper Annie Duncan says, “We all know how each other plays now, and so we’re playing a lot better together.”
The Eagles continued this momentum the next day, Wednesday, against Lake Erie to open their G-MAC play.
The Eagles beat Lake Erie 21-3. This left them at a 5-4 record overall and a 1-0 record in G-MAC play. Lake Erie now has an overall record of 1-6, and a Great Midwest record of 0-1.
In this game, Ashland had a season-high of goals and fell one goal short of the program record of 22, set back in 2019 in a game against Lewis University.
There were an impressive twelve goal scorers in this game. Sophomore attacker Ashley Drexler led the way with two goals and five assists for seven points. Junior attacker Rachel Crumbacher added six points with four goals and two assists. Another junior attacker, Ashley Fisher, had four goals and one assist, for five points.
Ashland out-shot Lake Erie 30-8.
The Ashland Eagles will finish their home game streak with one last game at Ferguson Field on Saturday, March 22 at noon with another conference game versus Ursuline College.
