Score: No. 6 Keiser Seahawks 12, Division III Calvin Knights 11
Records: No. 6 Keiser (5-1), Calvin (4-3)
Location: Multi-Purpose Field - West Palm Beach, Fla.
It was late-game drama in West Palm Beach as No. 6 Keiser women's lacrosse walked off the Multi-Purpose Field with a 12-11 victory over Calvin University on a rainy Friday afternoon. The Seahawks were trailing twice in the first quarter and fought off a Calvin comeback before getting a pair of clutch goals from
Isabelle Vrensen in the final 90 seconds to hold off the Knights.
Keiser and Calvin traded blows early in one of the most back-and-forth opening quarters of the season. The Seahawks drew first blood when MacKenzie Gibaud got on the board at the 12:40 mark off to give the Seahawks a 1-0 lead. The Knights answered almost immediately when a Keiser green card on Gibaud put Calvin on the man-up, and Megan Gibbs cashed in the power play opportunity at 8:04 to level the score. Calvin then seized the momentum in a hurry as Jacey Smith scored twice to push the advantage to 3-1. Kate Griffin won the draw and finished at the other end with 5:06 remaining on the assist from Lucy Single, trimming the deficit to one. The Seahawks then drew a green card, and Baylee Walker converted the ensuing man-up chance at 4:31, assisted by Isabelle Vrensen, to tie the game at 3-3. Calvin would go back up 4-3 on a free position shot, but with under two minutes left, Gibaud found the cage again at 1:27 to pull the Seahawks level at 4-4.
The second quarter opened with Calvin facing immediate pressure. Baylee Walker forced a turnover, and after a timeout reset the possession, Tess Geiger delivered a rocket at 9:19 to give Keiser their first lead since early in the first. Griffin won the ensuing draw, and 15 seconds later Beth Leeder tapped in a goal to make it 6-4. Griffin won yet another draw, and Gibaud completed a hat trick in the first half off a Jia Schweigert assist just 19 seconds after that to push the lead to 7-4. Calvin fought back to make it 7-5. But the lead was short-lived as Griffin rolled around the crease and beat the keeper at 6:49 for her second goal of the game, stretching Keiser back to three. The Knights refused to go quietly before Bethard struck again at 3:37 to pull Calvin within two at 8-6.
Calvin opened the third quarter with a man-up scenario, and Gibbs delivered on the power play at 12:08 to make it 8-7. Keiser answered again as Gibaud struck for her fourth goal of the game at 8:15, again assisted by Schweigert, to push the lead back to two at 9-7. The Knights once again scored to make it 9-8. Then, with 1:10 left, Tess Geiger squeezed home her second goal of the game to push the Keiser lead back to two heading into the final quarter.
Calvin scored early in the fourth, converting a free position at 13:07 to cut the deficit to one, 10-9. The middle portion of the quarter was an intense possession battle. Both teams exchanged turnovers and failed clears. At 6:52, Booher finished off her second goal of the game to draw Calvin level at 10-10. The Seahawks got their own breakthrough at 1:37 when Isabelle Vrensen drove to her right, spun left, and bounced a shot by the keeper to put Keiser up 11-10 with 97 seconds to go. Calvin called their final timeout, won the draw, and Booher answered with her third goal at 1:16 to tie it at 11-11. With just 48 seconds left, Griffin won her 13th draw control of the day before it was left to Vrensen, who blasted a shot low that found the back of the net with 49 seconds left to give the Seahawks a 12-11 lead. Calvin got one last draw off Lillian Morey, but Griffin forced a turnover to seal it, and Keiser held on to secure the victory.
Keiser will hit the road for a three-game trip in Kansas and Missouri, where they will open the trip against No. 1 Benedictine on Saturday, March 21. The opening draw control from Legacy Field in Atchison, Kan. is set for 1:00 p.m. CT
- Keiser improves to 5-1 on the season
- Gibaud led all scorers with 4 goals and now has five multi-goal games on the season
- Vrensen finished with 2 goals and 1 assist, including the go-ahead goal and the game-winner in the final 90 seconds
- The Seahawks outshot Calvin 39-24 overall and held a 28-16 advantage in shots on goal
- Griffin recorded 2 goals and 1 assist while dominating the draw circle, tying the program record with 13 draw controls
- As a team, the Seahawks won the draw control battle, claiming 18 of 25 total draw controls on the day
- The seven draw controls for Calvin were the lowest this season
- Griffin and Baylee Walker were all over both sides of the field, tying for the team lead in groundballs(3) and caused turnovers(4)
- Keiser tied their season-high mark of 18 caused turnovers in the game
- A lot of those forced turnovers came on the clear attempts for Calvin where the Seahawks held the Knights to 15-of-26 on clearances
- Raelyn Boutwell made 5 saves in the game improving her record to 5-1 on the season
No. 6 Keiser
Points: Gibaud (4)
Goals: Gibaud (4)
Assists: Schweigert (2)
Draw Controls: Griffin (13)
Ground Balls: Griffin/Walker (3)
Caused Turnovers: Griffin/Walker (3)
Saves: Boutwell (5)
Calvin
Points: Booher (4)
Goals: Booher/Gibbs (3)
Assists: Johnson (2)
Draw Controls: Plumb (3)
Ground Balls: Putnam/Petrusha (4)
Caused Turnovers: Four Tied (2)
Saves: Rizzo (16)
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