NAIA National Tournament Quarterfinal
Score: No. 1 Keiser Seahawks 20, No. 7 Missouri Baptist Spartans 8
Records: No. 1 Keiser (16-1), No. 7 Missouri Baptist (13-7)
Location: Memorial Stadium - Savannah, Ga.
No. 1 Keiser women's lacrosse took the lead early and did not look back, dominating No. 7 Missouri Baptist in the NAIA National Tournament Quarterfinal 20-8.
Isabelle Vrensen scored the opening goal of the tournament and ended the day with five goals and three assists.
MacKenzie Gibaud finished just behind her with four goals in the game followed by
Jia Schweigert who totaled three.
Cassidy Green and
Raelyn Boutwell combined for 14 saves in the game.
Keiser advances to the NAIA National Tournament Semifinal where they will play No. 5 Cumberlands. The opening draw control from Memorial Stadium in Savannah, Ga. is set for 3:00 p.m.
Keiser 6, MBU 0
- Isabelle Vrensen split the defense for the opening goal at the 9:14 mark
- Two minutes later it was MacKenzie Gibaud who found the back of the net to make it 2-0
- With 6:47 showing, Emily McCall scored to make it 3-0 off a fast break attack
- Less than 20 seconds later, McCall attacked again but hit the crossbar. Samantha Esher would snag it out of the air and score to force a timeout by the Spartans
- The Seahawks would close out the quarter with back-to-back goals by Kate Griffin and Vrensen to take the 6-0 advantage to the second quarter
Keiser 13, MBU 5
- Less than a minute into the quarter, Cassidy Green stopped a shot and put Keiser in transition. The ball would make its way to Schweigert who made it 7-0 with a well-placed shot
- MBU would finally get on the board with 13:16 remaining, but Vrensen tallied her third of the game two minutes later to put Keiser back up by seven
- The back-and-forth would continue with Olivia Julian and Schweigert trading goals as the score moved to 9-2
- Consecutive goals by the Spartans would cut the lead down to five with 5:21 on the clock, but it would be the closest Missouri Baptist would get for the remainder of the game
- With 3:39 showing, Gibaud converted her free position chance to extend Keiser's lead to six
- It would start a 4-0 run for the Seahawks as Peyton Tomlinson, Vrensen, and Jordyn Payne all found the back of the net to give Keiser the 13-5 lead
- Julian would score the final goal of the half as Keiser took the 13-5 lead to the lockers
Keiser 16, MBU 7
- Three minutes into the third, Schweigert tallied her third of the game to make it 14-5
- Gibaud cut right through the heart of the defense for the 15th goal to start the running clock
- Missouri Baptist would tally two goals in a span of a minute to once again cut into the Keiser lead with 4:17 still to play in the third
- After getting the ball on their own endline with 50 seconds left, the Seahawks would work forward quickly as Esher found Vrensen who bounced a shot by the keeper to put Keiser up by nine going into the final period
Keiser 20, MBU 8
- One minute into the fourth, McCall caught the ball on the wing before working her way in front of net and shoveling her shot into the goal to put KU up 10
- Victoria Francisco would get on the board two minutes later before goals by Griffin and Gibaud had Keiser up by 13 with under seven minutes to play
- Missouri Baptist would score the final goal of the contest with just over a minute left as Keiser took the field to celebrate the win
- Keiser improves to 16-1 on the year, tying the most wins in program history
- The Seahawks are now 6-5 in the NAIA postseason and 4-3 in the quarterfinal round
- KU improves to 3-0 against Missouri Baptist with the win
- Vrensen's five goals are the second-most this season for the first-year player and her eighth hat trick of the season
- Her three assists and eight points both tie career highs
- Gibaud posted her fourth game of at least four goals against the Spartans
- She is now the fifth member of the team with at least 30 goals this season
- Sydney Parker finished the game just three goals short of a hat trick on the day
- Both Griffin and McCall brought in four draw controls on Wednesday morning
- Hayley Frew and Isturiz were both credited with two caused turnovers in the contest
- Lizzie Belton had four groundballs in the game to lead all players
- Cassidy Green and Raelyn Boutwell were dominant in net, totaling a combined 14 saves which marks a new season best
- Green tied her season-high mark of eight saves while Boutwell recorded a season-best six saves
- The eight goals scored by the Spartans tied for the least amount of goals scored this season
- Keiser's defense has held opponents to fewer than 10 goals in 13 different games this season
- The Seahawks are 3-6 all-time against Cumberlands and 1-1 in the NAIA Tournament against the Patriots
- Last season, UC knocked the Seahawks out of the NAIA Tournament
- Back in 2021, Keiser claimed their National Championship against the Patriots in a 13-11 win in Savannah, Ga.
- Keiser's Lizzie Belton will be taking on her sister Aleyah Belton, who plays for Cumberlands, for the first and likely only time in a collegiate game
No. 1 Keiser
Points: Vrensen (8)
Goals: Vrensen (5)
Assists: Vrensen (3)
Draw Controls: Griffin/McCall (4)
Ground Balls: Belton (4)
Caused Turnovers: Isturiz/Frew (2)
Saves: Green (8)
No. 7 Missouri Baptist
Points: Julian (3)
Goals: Julian (3)
Assists: Terrell/Miller (1)
Draw Controls: Cornett (6)
Ground Balls: Schnefcke/Bouchard (3)
Caused Turnovers: Julian (2)
Saves: Bouchard (7)
Keiser advances to the NAIA National Tournament Semifinal where they will play No. 5 Cumberlands. The opening draw control from Memorial Stadium in Savannah, Ga. is set for 3:00 p.m.
Get the latest information on the team by following Keiser_wlax on Instagram, and Keiser wlax on Twitter.
General athletic news can be found at KUSeahawks on Facebook, kuseahawks on Instagram, and kuseahawks on Twitter.
