WOOSTER, Ohio – A phenomenal outing by first-year goalkeeper Audrey Richardson, a late draw control by sophomore Lizzie Hardy, and a 4-0 second-half run propelled The College of Wooster women's lacrosse team to an exciting 13-12 win over Kenyon College on Tuesday evening at John P. Papp Stadium.
Hardy, the leader behind Wooster's (10-2, 2-1 North Coast Athletic Conference) No. 5 national ranking in draw controls per game, collected her 76th of the season in the final minute. Wooster was able to maintain possession until the final horn went off to quiet a late charge by Kenyon (5-6, 1-2 NCAC), which scored three goals in just over a minute to pull within one.
Richardson improved to 2-0 as Wooster's starting goalkeeper and both times the first-year had a double-digit count for saves in the start. Richardson stopped 12 Kenyon shots on the night, including five in the opening stanza to help Wooster open a 4-2 lead.
The decisive stretch started with Wooster leading 9-8 in the third quarter. This time junior Kenzie Morris won the draw control to move closer to becoming the sixth player in program history with at least 175 over a career. Hardy fed a cutting senior Ciara O'Connor to give Wooster a two-goal cushion at the third quarter's 2:52 mark.
Another Morris draw control followed, and Wooster went a player up on Kenyon's fourth yellow card of the night. Sophomore Bella Woodbury found Morris open for the Scot-up score. Woodbury again was the distributor early in the fourth quarter, finding Kenzie Smith for the senior's 39th goal of the year. Prior to the Smith score, Wooster gained possession in transition, stopping Kenyon when junior Kaitlyn McBride caused a Nola Garand turnover and scooped up the groundball. Later, Wooster's lead reached 13-8 on Morris' 45th score of the season at the fourth quarter's 11:14 mark.
Wooster's aggressive transition defense caused issues for Kenyon, which finished just 14-of-22 on clearing attempts. The Owls' success rate was just 50 percent in the opening stanza, and that is when eight of Kenyon's 22 turnovers were booked onto the stat sheet.
Morris' four goals led Wooster, and the junior added five draw controls and two groundballs to the Tuesday night stat line. Sophomore Brynne Snaguski followed with three goals. Hardy backed up the six draw controls with six groundballs and two caused turnovers and senior Angelina Bolivar finished with three groundballs and two caused turnovers.
Ashley Quinn scored three goals for Kenyon. The Owls' Lily Mason accounted for five of Kenyon's 14 draw controls, while Annabel Ives was the impact substitute, evidenced by three caused turnovers. Garand matched Richardson with 12 saves.
Wooster outshot Kenyon 34-31 and had two fewer turnovers than the Owls.
Wooster returns to action with a 2:30 p.m. contest at DePauw University (6-5, 1-2 NCAC) on Saturday, April 20.