SAVANNAH, Ga. – Benedictine Women's Lacrosse became the first two-time NAIA Women's Lacrosse National Champions on Saturday with a 21-15 win over the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) from Memorial Stadium.
Benedictine used an 8-goal fourth quarter to turn a 13-12 game at the end of the third quarter into a 6-goal win. The Ravens won 8 of 11 fourth-quarter draw controls to maintain possession on offense and outshoot the Patriots 17-5.
Kiera Russell scored the first goal of the game off an assist from Kaylen Moore. Cumberlands scored two straight to take a lead before Moore tied the game midway through the first quarter. Moore's goal started a 6-0 run that stretched into the second quarter and pushed Benedictine to a 7-2 lead with 9:21 remaining in the second quarter.
Cumberlands started to gain possession inside the final three minutes of the second quarter, which led to three straight goals to cut Benedictine's lead down to 10-7 at halftime. The Patriots kept the momentum through halftime and started the third quarter on another 3-goal run that tied the game at 10.
Despite the Patriots scoring 6 straight goals, the Ravens never gave up their lead. Moore and Lorelei Siegel broke the Ravens scoreless drought with three straight goals, with Siegel scoring between a pair of goals from Moore to push Benedictine back ahead 13-10 with just under 4 minutes left in the third quarter.
Cumberlands didn't back down, scoring two straight to end the quarter and send the game into the final 15 minutes with Benedictine's lead trimmed to 13-12.
Benedictine won 3 of the first 4 draw controls of the fourth quarter, which led to goals from Russell and two from Chanterra Allen. Cumberlands scored with 11:08 left in the game to make it 16-14 Benedictine before the Ravens won 5 of the next 7 draw controls to maintain offensive possession and pull away for the win.
Allen led the Ravens with 8 goals, followed by Moore and Russell with 4 each. Moore finished with 8 points as she led the Ravens with 4 assists to break the NAIA record for single-season assists. Lorelei Siegel scored 3 goals while Alexa Hildenbrand finished with 1 goal and 1 assist.
Moore finished with 10 draw controls while Russell added 4. More also led the Ravens with three caused turnovers as the Ravens finished the game with 11 total. Ainsley Willingham was the only other Raven with more than one, as she finished with 2 caused turnovers.
Molly Owen earned the win in goal, finishing with 7 saves. Of her 15 goals allowed, 6 were scored on free-position shots by Cumberlands.
Benedictine earned four spots on the All-Tournament Team, led by Moore, who was also named the Tournament MVP. Sophia Juergensmyer was named a defender, Moore was named as a midfielder and Allen and Seigel were named as attackers.
The win caps off a perfect season for Benedictine as they post a 21-0 record, establishing new NAIA records for consecutive wins and total wins in a single season.
www.ravenathletics.com | #UnleashGreatness | www.benedictine.edu