WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson women's lacrosse team scored a season-high goal total in a 21-9 win Wednesday night over visiting Thiel in a Presidents' Athletic Conference match at Alexandre Stadium.
The win is the fifth-straight for the Presidents, who improve to 3-0 in conference play and 6-3 overall. The loss drops Thiel to 0-3 in conference matches and 4-6 overall. W&J has now beat Thiel in eight straight meetings overall.
Both sides struggled offensively in a low scoring first quarter. Caleigh Bogats (Oakdale, Pa./Chartiers Valley) opened the scoring at the 10:43 mark of the first quarter with an unassisted goal. Thiel countered five minutes later with an unassisted goal of its own. The Presidents would tally three straight goals to take a 4-1 lead in the early stages of the second quarter. Amanda Effland (Frederick, Md./Frederick), Anna Kloehn (Canton, Ohio/Jackson), and Aisa Uhler (East Lansing, Mich. / East Lansing) were responsible for the goals during the run.
Thiel countered back with four consecutive goals to take its first lead of the match. Three of the goals were scored by Destiny Johnson, who found the back of the net to give the Tomcats a 5-4 lead at the 8:27 mark.
After a five-minute scoreless streak, W&J ripped off four goals over the final 3:28 of the second quarter. Sofia Jenkins (Hughesville, Md./The Calverton School) bookended the scoring run with a pair of goals. Her final tally of the first half gave W&J an 8-5 advantage at the break.
W&J used that momentum to dominate the final two quarters of play. The Red and Black outscored the Tomcats by a 13-4 margin in the second half.
The Presidents had five players score a hat trick in the mid-week outing as Jenkins, Effland, and Bogats all finished with four goals. Uhler and
Sarah Labovitz (Great Falls, Va./The Bullis School) tacked on three apiece.
Effland added four assists to finish with a game-high eight points. The reigning PAC Offensive Player of the Week added six draw controls and four ground balls.
Labovitz added four caused turnovers and a season-high 10 draw controls to fill her stat sheet. Defensively,
Ella Phillips (Arnold, Md./Broadneck) finished with three ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Kaitlyn Brown (Charlotte Hall, Md./La Plata) recorded nine saves to earn another win in goal.
W&J held team advantages in shots (36-25), ground balls (26-19) and draw controls (18-14).
The Presidents travels to Mount Union for a non-conference matchup with Mount Union on Friday, April 7. Start time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
