RIVER FALLS, Wis. — The UW-River Falls women's lacrosse team lost against UW-Eau Claire by a score of 17-12 at Ramer Field on Wednesday, April 19.
The Falcons saw a similar quantity of shots and shots on goal, but ultimately the Blugolds capitalized off an early lead that eventually held for the entirety of the game. The loss dropped UWRF's record on the season to 8-5 overall and 2-3 in WIAC play.
UW-Eau Claire's Victoria Shea scored the first goal of the game at the 13:14 mark, but then both teams remained scoreless for over eight minutes of game time. The Blugolds doubled the lead to 2-0, before Brooke Glumack scored UWRF's first goal to trim the deficit to 2-1. UW-Eau Claire scored two goals within a 47-second span to lead 4-1, before Avery Watzke trimmed the visitors' lead to 4-2 with an unassisted goal at the 1:28 mark.
The Falcons found themselves out-shot 11-5 in the second period, as UW-Eau Claire held a 5-3 advantage in goals. Murphi Specht quickly cut the deficit to 4-3 just 13 seconds into the second quarter, but the Blugolds rattled off three straight goals to lead 7-3 with 12:47 left in the half. River Falls and Eau Claire took turns exchanging two goals each, as the Falcons went into halftime trailing 9-5.
The third quarter was productive for UWRF, led off by an early goal by Specht to cut the lead to 9-6. The Blugolds bounced back with a goal at 10:09, before the Falcons went on to score three unanswered goals — Molly Pierce scored at 3:37 to cut the deficit to 10-9. After this point in the third, UW-Eau Claire held a 2-1 advantage in goals to lead 12-10 going into the fourth quarter. The Falcons out shot the Blugold 10-5 in the third quarter and held an 8-5 advantage in shots on goal.
Both teams put up five shots on goal in the fourth, as River Falls was unable to make up any further ground. The Blugolds out-scored the Falcons 5-2, pulling away to win 17-12.
Specht led UWRF with six points off five goals and one assists — her five goals tied a career best. Glumack finished with three goals, and Samantha Hayek totaled two points off one goal and one assist. Specht also led the Falcons with six draw controls and three caused turnovers. Morgan Leick recorded four draw controls and two caused turnovers.
Up next, the Falcons will head to the Twin Cities next week to face off with Hamline on April 16. The game is set to begin at 5 p.m.
