The top-seeded Benedictine Women's Lacrosse team secured the program's third Heart Championship Tournament title on Saturday on Legacy Field.

Benedictine earned a 24-12 win over No. 2 seed Missouri Baptist University, winning the program's ninth conference tournament championship in 10 seasons as a program.

Missouri Baptist struck first, scoring on a free position shot just 2 minutes into the game. Benedictine followed that with a run of goals from five players as Kiera Russell, Chanterra Allen, Kaylen Moore, Lile Chekas, and Lorelei Siegel to take a 5-1 lead before the Spartans added a man-up goal with just over 90 seconds left in the quarter.

Allen and Chekas opened the second quarter with their second goals, followed by the first of the game from Mackenna Hill, before the Spartans scored another free position goal. Benedictine added 4 more second-quarter goals while the Spartans scored two of their remaining three before halftime on free positions to send the half with the Ravens holding a 12-6 lead.

Benedictine came out of the half, outshooting Missouri Baptist 12-6 as they scored 8 more times. Allen pushed the Ravens up by 10 goals, kicking in the running clock for the first time with 2:50 remaining in the third quarter, and it remained running through the fourth quarter until a goal with 8:39 momentarily pulled the Spartans back with 9 goals.

Allen added her final goal, followed by two more goals from Hill to put the game away as Benedictine earned the 12-goal win.

Headed into the game, Allen needed 6 goals to break the NAIA's single-season goals record, she finished with 7 to set the new record at 116 and counting. Chekas finished with 6 points (5 goals, 1 assist) while Moore added 4 points (3 goals, 1 assist). Russell and Hill finished with 3 goals each, while Siegel scored twice, followed by Alexa Hildenbrand with 1.

Molly Owen earned the win in the goal. She finished with 10 saves over 60 minutes, recording 5 saves in the second quarter. Moore led the Ravens with 10 draw controls and 3 caused turnovers. Chekas, Sophia Juergensmeyer, Ava Moore, and Marguax Gelbach added 2 caused turnovers each as the Ravens finished with 12 total.

Benedictine will now wait to learn their seeding in the fifth annual NAIA Women's Lacrosse National Championship. The Selection Show will be released at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. The Tournament Championship gives the Ravens the automatic berth from the Heart of America Athletic Conference.

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