LEBANON, Ill. – The McKendree Bearcats started fast and kept the pressure on throughout in handing the Lee women’s lacrosse team an 18-11 road defeat on Sunday afternoon.
The Lady Flames were led offensively by sophomore Shayna Ryan who tallied five goals. Freshman Kelsey McGowan added three of her own to the offensive attack while freshman Brittney White had a goal, three assists and six draw controls.
“On attack, we were repeatedly detained on our cuts and it led to fewer opportunities to catch and shoot the ball cleanly. We need to step up our physical game and work to get clear shots on goal,” noted Lee head coach Derrel Martin.
The Lady Flames climbed within four on three separate occasions in the second half, the final time coming on a McGowen goal to cut the deficit to 11-7.
Each time however McKendree responded to keep the game out of reach.
The Bearcats had five players score multiple goals led by Sarah Hardin’s six scores. Rylee Skachenko followed with four, Oriana Johnson had three and Kathryn Albrecht and Morey Jess added two each. Albrecht also led the team with three assists and eight draw controls.
“We struggled today putting together a total game against McKendree. We stopped their first cuts to goal but we didn’t recover quick enough to pick up those second and third cutters to prevent their shots,” said Martin. “Our transition game had a high percentage of success but we need to clean up a few things on our rides to slow down our opponent’s clears. We moved a few players around and I think that has lessened our pressure on the ball.”
Lee out shot McKendree, 33-31 but the Bearcats goalkeeper, Clara Andrews stepped up for 13 saves in the victory. Lindsey Glass started in goal giving up two goals in 3:55 before giving way to Caleigh Smith who registered seven saves and gave up 16 goals.
The loss drops the Lady Flames to an even 2-2 on the year while the Bearcats improve to 2-0 on the young season.
Lee returns home for a special Friday night match under the lights at the Lee Soccer Field. The Lady Flames will host the University of Virginia at Wise at 6 p.m. with free food from Las Margaritas available for fans.