Spartans Begin Year Two of Women's Lacrosse
Feb 23, 2014 | J.Crane
BOX SCORE vs. Augsburg
BOX SCORE vs. Midland
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - The University of Dubuque Women's Lacrosse team began its second season with two games over the weekend inside the Augsburg College Athletics Air Structure (Augsburg Dome). The Spartans opened on Saturday night with an 11-8 loss against the hosts for the weekend, Augsburg College. UD finished the trip against third year NAIA Midland University and a 23-10 defeat. The ten goals for first year head coach Kendall Loggins' squad ties a school record for goals in a game. Dubuque is 0-2 on the young season.
The Spartans jumped out to an early lead against Augsburg with Bridget Schirmers (Coon Rapids, Minn./Coon Rapids) scoring the first goal of the year to give UD a 1-0 lead. After an Augsburg goal tied the game at 1-1, Schirmers and Judy Borah (Mammoth Lakes, Calif./Pacific Palisades Charter) answered back to give UD a 3-1 lead after nine minutes of play. Augsburg pulled with one with a goal less than one minute later before the two defenses settled in to not allow a goal for ten minutes. The Auggies tied the game at 3-3 before Borah's second goal of the game put Dubuque ahead. Nichole Pacheco (Addison, Ill./Addison Trail) broke free with six minutes until halftime to give the Spartans a 5-3 lead. Augsburg would go on to score 3 unanswered goals to take a 6-5 lead into halftime.
Augsburg came out clicking in the second half on their way to four unanswered goals to take a 10-5 lead near the midway point of the second half. Borah scored her third and fourth goals of the game late as UD attempted to rally back. Borah led the Spartans in scoring with four unassisted goals. Schirmers scored her third goal of the game with an assist from Robyn Wittkopf (Pewaukee, Wis./Arrowhead).
Natalie Cukale (Aurora, Colo./Gateway) took the loss in goal with nine saves and six goals allowed in the first half. Danielle Williams (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) was in net during the second half, recording nine saves and five goals allowed.
The Spartans returned to action on Sunday morning with an action packed game against Midland University (Nebraska) in which the teams combined for 33 goals and 65 shots. Midland did their best to put the game out of reach early with nine unanswered goals in the first ten minutes. The Spartans owned the second ten minutes with four goals including two from Borah. Schirmers and Wittkopf also scored as UD attempted to get back into the game. Midland extended their lead to 14-5 before halftime with the Spartans lone goal coming from Pacheco with less than four minutes remaining in the half.
Schirmers accounted for four second half goals as UD continued to attack offensively. The Spartans were unable to make-up any ground in the second half with Midland scoring nine goals to Dubuque's five goals. Kelly Wetherald (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport Township) scored her first career goal to account for the fifth goal of the second half for UD. Cukale took the loss in net with 14 goals allowed and 11 saves in the first half. Williams had seven saves and nine goals allowed in the second half.
UP NEXT: The Spartans return to the field on Saturday, March 8th against Aquinas College (at Robert Morris). Game time is 3:30 pm.
Follow all UD Athletics action on Twitter at: @UDubuqueSports
