WILLIAMSBURG, Ky.— The Montreat College women's lacrosse team played in its second consecutive road Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) contest on Saturday afternoon, this time going up against the No. 2-ranked University of the Cumberlands Patriots. The Cavaliers fell to the Pats by a final score of 28-1. As a result, the Cavs now hold a 4-7 (1-4 AAC) record on the campaign, while Cumberlands improved to 15-1 (4-0 AAC) on the year.
UC established early control, finding the back of the net just 19 seconds into the matchup. Cumberlands ultimately scored a trio of goals during the initial 46 seconds. Meanwhile, the hosts' defense remained tough, not allowing a single shot attempt from Montreat. Despite Anastasia Rust notching a couple of saves, the Cavaliers found themselves facing a 15-0 deficit after the first quarter of play.
Grace Wiegand came through for the Cavs in the second period, scoring on a player-up free position shot. However, the Patriots added five more tallies to their already commanding lead, bringing the score to 20-1 before halftime arrived.
The gap continued to widen in the third with the hosts putting four more shots into the net. Rust continued to put forth effort in goal, grabbing another couple of saves. Both Marley Smith and Wiegand were able to get off shots in the final quarter, but unfortunately for the visitors, both tries resulted in saves. The game wrapped up with the Patriots adding eight goals in the second half, four in each quarter, ultimately leading to the 28-1 final score.
On the day, Cumberlands held the advantage in shots (38-4), clears (7-3), ground balls (14-7) and draw controls (26-5). The Cavs were able to edge out their opposition in saves (5-2), while both teams were even in free position scores (1-1).
Wiegand scored one goal on three shots, including a successful free-position attempt. Smith made her presence felt with one shot on goal, maintaining pressure on the opposing defense. In net, Rust faced 38 shots, making five saves and securing three ground balls.
The next challenge for the Montreat College women's lacrosse team comes as it travels to face (RV) Tennessee Wesleyan University in its final contest of the regular season. The game is set for Wednesday, April 15, at 2 p.m. in Athens, Tenn.
