Ashland Earns First Lacrosse Win, 13-10, At Shorter

Ashland Earns First Lacrosse Win, 13-10, At Shorter

Ashland University's lacrosse team won their its game in program history on Tuesday (March 5) at Shorter University.

The Eagles were propelled to a 13-10 victory by a strong defensive effort, and a combined 11 goals from juniors Sofia Michael and Renee Ruppert.

"The team played well today," said Ashland head lacrosse coach Shaun Williamson. "We controlled the draw and limited Shorter's shot opportunities with a good ride. We could have played better defensively at times, but it was a good team win."

Ashland was able to go into the half with an 8-6 lead, after a strong performance to open the game. Michael had four first-half goals, and was nearly matched by Ruppert's three.

Down two goals, Michael opened the Eagles scoring at 25:43. Ruppert added another under a minute later at 25:11 to tie the game. At 21:57, Michael struck again to take a 3-2 lead, and Ashland would not look back after that. The Eagles held onto the lead for the remainder of the game.

"Today was a winnable game if we played a good 60 minutes. We learned some valuable lessons about that in our first game," said Williamson. "Going into the Mars Hill game I'd like to see us tighten up defensively a little bit and see if we can get a winning streak going."

Also getting on the board for the Eagles in the first half was senior Lauren Taylor at 15:16, the assist going to Ruppert.

Michael added three more goals in the second half to finish with seven, while Ruppert added one more to her total on the day, finishing with four.

Freshman Cora Wilson also got her name in the scoresheet in the second half with a goal at the 14:56 mark, on a free position shot during a 4-0 run for Ashland.

Ashland dominated Shorter in draw controls, winning 19 of 23. The Eagles also had the lion's share of shots, 29, to Shorter's 17.

"I'm extremely proud of the team's hard work and I'm looking forward to the next game," said Williamson.

Ashland will play next on Thursday (March 7) at 7 p.m. at Mars Hill.

 

 

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