Women's Lacrosse Pulls Away from St. Mary in Road Win

Leavenworth, Kan., (Feb. 17, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College men's and women's lacrosse teams traveled to Leavenworth, Kan., for a non-conference doubleheader with St. Mary (Kan.), Saturday afternoon.  The Vikings women's team pulled away for the program's first win since 2021 with a 10-6 victory.

The women's game started with a quick goal scored by St. Mary, coming with less than one minute off the clock.  Missouri Valley answered one minute later, as Freshman Defender Miranda Wilson (Idaho Falls, Idaho) came up with a ground ball off a USM turnover.  The possession eventually led to a goal from Freshman Midfielder Hailey Davis (Maryville, Tenn.) to tie the teams at 1-1.  The Spires controlled the ball over the next few minutes and went back on top, 2-1 with just over five minutes off the clock.  The two teams traded possession over the next several minutes.  The Vikings eventually earned a free-position attempt near the five-minute mark, and Freshman Attacker Atleigh Lark (Alma, Mo.) scored on the opportunity to tie the contest once again, 2-2.  After two free-position chances by MVC over the next stretch, St. Mary regained possession, and retook the lead, moving on top, 3-2, with just over one minute to play in the quarter.  Freshman Goalkeeper Kaydee Hickman (Alcoa, Tenn.) followed with her first save of the game moments after the ensuing draw.  Junior Midfielder Alexis Lark (Alma, Mo.) then caused a turnover, picked up the ground ball, and put a shot past the USM keeper to tie the teams at 3-3 in the final moments of the first quarter.

The two teams traded possession at the start of the second quarter, and a Spire turnover eventually led for a chance on goal for Alexis Lark.  Her shot went into goal, and gave MVC its first lead of the game, at 4-3, with nearly three minutes played.  St. Mary had a shot hit off the post during the next sequence of play, and the two teams traded turnovers and ground balls over six minutes of action.  Eventually, USM worked another goal, near the six-minute mark, to bring the teams into a 4-4 tie.  Missouri Valley used a turnover from St. Mary, and a ground ball scooped up by Davis to create another goal.  Davis scored to put MVC back on front, then worked quickly after the ensuing draw to set up Alexis Lark with a goal to push the lead out to 6-4 with less than three minutes to play in the half.  Both teams were unable to tack on a late goal before time expired, and MVC went into the break with the two-goal advantage.

Play after the break started with Missouri Valley working a number of chances through the first four minutes of play, but could not find another goal.  St. Mary worked back and cut into its deficit with a goal nearly five minutes into play.  The Vikings eventually earned another turnover as Wilson gained possession on a ground ball.  Nearly one minute later, Freshman Attacker Miriam Viklund (Hamosand, Sweden) scored and made it a 7-5 score midway through the quarter.  St. Mary followed with another goal less than two minutes later to trail by one goal.  The next stretch of play featured possession from both teams, but Davis came through with a goal in the final two minutes to make it an 8-6 advantage going into the fourth quarter.

Missouri Valley held USM from any shots until the eight-minute mark when Hickman made another save.  The two teams traded possession over ten minutes of play in the quarter.  Alexis Lark put the game out of reach with a goal to make it a 9-6 score as the game neared the five-minute mark.  One more goal sealed the victory, scored by Viklund, and Missouri Valley earned a 10-6 win.

Alexis Lark led with four goals,  one assist and eight ground balls, while Davis totaled three goals, one assist and seven ground balls.  Viklund had two goals and Atleigh Lark scored one goal and caused five turnovers.  Hickman made four saves in goal.  Missouri Valley held a 14-4 advantage in ground balls and caused 33 turnovers.

The win moves Missouri Valley to 1-1 on the season, and St. Mary drops to 0-1 with the loss.  This is the program's first win since defeating Clarke (Iowa), 12-10 back on April 9, 2021. 

Up next, the Viking women's lacrosse team hosts Drury (Mo.), Wednesday at 4 p.m., inside Volney C. Ashford Stadium.

Box Score-Click Here 

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Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 30 academic programs, study abroad program, extracurricular activities, and a wide variety of sports. The most popular majors include education and business, criminal justice and exercise science. Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.