BEREA, Ohio – The second-seeded Baldwin Wallace University women's lacrosse team is defeated by Ohio Athletic Conference rival and top-seeded the University of Mount Union, 18-9, today in the OAC Tournament Championship Game at Mount Union Stadium.
With its loss, BW ends their season 14-4 overall. Its 14 victories is a Yellow Jacket single-season record and included a 10-game winning streak. With its win, Mt. Union is now 15-2 overall.
The Yellow Jackets were led by freshman midfielders Sierra Thomas (Medina) and Maddie Russell (Lakewood/Rocky River). Thomas had 4 goals and Maddie Russell had 4 goals and 3 assists.
Mt. Union was led by Katherine Doraty with 4 goals and Michelle Tegethoff with 3 goals.
The Purple Raiders took an early 3-1 lead at 26:59 before BW tied it at 4-4 when Thomas scored her second goal of the game via an assist from Maddie Russell. Following another Mt. Union goal and a 5-4 lead, Thomas struck again for her third tally at 11:44 via another Maddie Russell helper.
Mt. Union ended the first half by scoring six unanswered goals to take a 11-5, lead going into half-time.
BW scored the first goal of the second half when Thomas scored her fourth of the game at the 27:01 mark. The Purple Raiders scored back-to-back goals from Susie Kraus and Doraty to increase their lead 13-6.
The Yellow Jackets would cut the lead to 13-7 when Maddie Russell scored at the 17:59 mark. This was the closest BW would get before Mt. Union increased their lead.
In goal for BW, senior Bridget Walsh (Sheffield Lake/ Elyria Catholic) played 11:11 minutes and allowed 2 goals. Freshman Gabrielle Nondorf played the remaining 48:49 minutes, allowed 16 goals, and have 3 saves.
It is the first year that the nation's third oldest athletic conference -- the 112-year old OAC -- is sponsoring a women's lacrosse championship. Since only five OAC teams sponsor lacrosse this spring (and more to come next spring), there is NO automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship. All five OAC teams are eligible to be selected for one of five 'Pool B' bids reserved for independents and non-automatic bid conference or one of eight 'Pool C' national at-large bids. The NCAA Division III National Tournament Selection Show is scheduled for Sunday night.
FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.bwyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
