This year, the Southwestern Women's Lacrosse Team is now 6-0 at home against opponents. Even more impressive, head coach Kaitlyn Hafdell and her assistant Jordan Baack have now led the team to its third eight-win season in the program's nine-year history. And the Pirates showed no signs of slowing down in their game against the Birmingham-Southern Panthers.
The Pirates went back and forth with the Panthers in the first quarter of play. The Panthers landed the first blow, but Jr. Deanna Hames and So. Raquel Kurth scored the following two goals of the game to put the Pirates up by one. The game would go scoreless for half of the quarter until the Panthers scored with only three seconds remaining to make it 2-2 at the end of the first.
The offense caught fire in the second quarter, scoring five unanswered goals right off the bat. It would only be a minute left in the half when the Panthers could find the back of the net. But Sr. attacker Raven Garcia negated the goal with eleven seconds to go in the second. Garcia and Hames finished the half with two goals, while Kurth helped her team secure the 8-3 lead with three goals in two quarters.
Birmingham-Southern didn't score in the first half because of a lack of opportunities or turnovers. The Panthers had plenty of chances on the free positions shots but could not convert. This was due to Pirate goaltender Tessa Lewis, who had another solid performance with 12 saves on the night, eight of them coming in the first half.
The Pirates continued their first-half success early into the third quarter, making the game seem over at 10-3 at the 12-minute mark. But the Panthers fought themselves out of the hole, scoring five goals against the Pirates and cutting the lead down to make it a 12-8 game.
But the five-goal third quarter seemed to be all the Panthers had in them. The Pirate defense locked in and shut down the Panther offense, holding them to only one goal in the final quarter of play. Defender Caden Laflamme-Szakonyi and midfielder Emma Pertuit anchored the Pirate defense throughout the game. Laflamme-Szakonyi had four ground balls and forced two turnovers, while Pertuit had five groundballs and caused four turnovers. Garcia and Kurth led the Pirates in points against the Panthers with five points apiece. Kurth couldn't score in the second half, but she helped seal the game with two assists in the fourth quarter. The Pirates captured a 14-9 win against the BSC Panthers and will look to continue their win streak in the last of their three-game home stretch on Saturday.
It's a battle of the Pirates for Southwestern's second-to-last home game of the season. Women's Lacrosse will take on the Whitworth University Pirates on Saturday, March 26th, at 1:00 PM.