Score: No. 5 Keiser Seahawks 17, No. 4 Reinhardt Eagles 7
Records: No. 5 Keiser (16-3), No. Reinhardt (11-4)
Location: Jack Allen Sports Complex, Decatur, Ala.
No. 5 Keiser women's lacrosse entered the NAIA National Tournament quarterfinals with unfinished business against a Reinhardt team that had handed the Seahawks a loss earlier in the season, and on Monday afternoon at the Jack Allen Complex, they made sure there would be no repeat. Behind a dominant third quarter and record-breaking performances, the fourth-seeded Seahawks dismantled the fifth-seeded Eagles 17-7 to punch their ticket to the semifinals.
Reinhardt struck first when Mary Grace Lewis put the Eagles on the board at the 11:15 mark. At the 7:00 mark, a turnover in the midfield found its way to
MacKenzie Gibaud who converted to level the score. Minutes later, Gibaud set up
Isabelle Vrensen for a goal at 4:45 to give the Seahawks a 2-1 lead. The Eagles grabbed a pair of goals late in the period and took a 3-2 lead into the second quarter.
Reinhardt extended its lead in the second quarter's early going when
Izzy Prestia scored at 5:29 to push the Eagles' advantage to 4-2. At 2:31, Keiser would answer with Gibaud drawing two defenders before hitting Isturiz in stride for the easy finish to make it 4-3. Barely 16 seconds later, Isturiz won the draw herself and immediately turned it into another goal, knotting the game at 4-4.
Emily Ferris converted a woman-up opportunity on a bouncing shot at the 43-second mark to give Keiser its first lead since early in the first quarter, 5-4. Keiser would win the final draw control of the period but not be able to get another goal before the buzzer sounded for the half.
Lizzie Belton won the opening draw, and a minute in, Gibaud had pounced on a Schweigert miss to score at 13:56, making it 6-4. A failed clear led to
Reese Lynch finding Schweigert for a goal at 10:02 to push the lead to 7-4. At 4:15, the Seahawks were off to the races again with
Emily McCall sending it forward to Isturiz who beat her defender in the one-on-one before scoring to make it 8-4. Then, with Griffin controlling a pair of consecutive draws, the Seahawks erupted. Schweigert scored at 3:35,
Tess Geiger added a goal off a Schweigert assist at 1:49, Schweigert scored again off a Beth Leeder assist at 1:32, and then Schweigert struck for her fourth of the quarter at 0:52 to put Keiser up 12-4. Reinhardt managed a consolation score as Lauren Padgett finished with 40 seconds left, but the damage was done, and Keiser was up 12-5 heading into the fourth.
With the game well in hand, Reinhardt opened the fourth quarter by benefiting from a pair of green cards on Keiser. Rakestraw converted a free position shot at 11:43 to make it 12-6 and Reinhardt called timeout. Keiser benefitted as Griffin won the draw, and McCall scored less than a minute later at 10:48. Geiger added another Keiser goal just 34 seconds after that to push the lead to 14-6. The Eagles managed to get one back but Vrensen scored at 4:27, Gibaud converted a free position shot at 3:53, and
Reese Lynch capped the scoring with a goal at 3:03. With the clock running, Keiser cruised to the finish, winning their fifth game in a row by at least 10 goals.
The Seahawks advance to the NAIA National Tournament Semifinals where they will take on the top-seeded Benedictine Ravens. The opening draw control is set for Wednesday, May 13 at 5:00 PM ET.
- Keiser improves to 16-3 on the season and advances to the NAIA National Tournament semifinals with the win
- The victory marks the 10th time this season Keiser has won by at least 10 goals
- Schweigert led all scorers with four goals and one assist for five points
- All four of her goals came in the third quarter
- Gibaud finished with three goals and four assists for seven points, the game's top point total
- With her early goal, she extended her scoring streak to 35 consecutive games
- Isturiz posted a hat trick with three goals to go along with a season-high six groundballs
- Geiger added two goals off four shots
- Griffin led all players with 10 draw controls
- With her third draw control of the game, Griffin surpassed the Keiser single-season record for draw controls, recording her 114th of the year
- It was the fourth time this season Griffin has recorded at least 10 draw controls in a single game
- Keiser won the draw control battle 18-8 on the day
- Belton also matched a season-high with six groundballs in the game
- Belton and Isturiz also both finished with three caused turnovers
- Keiser outshot Reinhardt 37 to 14 and held a 29-10 edge in shots on goal
- Looking ahead to tomorrow, Keiser is 2-1 against Benedictine all-time
- The Ravens won the matchup earlier this season 20-10 but Keiser has the only postseason win in the series from back in the 2023 NAIA quarterfinals
No. 5 Keiser
Points: Gibaud (7)
Goals: Schweigert (4)
Assists: Gibaud (4)
Draw Controls: Griffin (10)
Ground Balls: Belton/Isturiz (6)
Caused Turnovers: Belton/Isturiz (3)
Saves: Boutwell (3)
No. 4 Reinhardt
Points: Rakestraw (4)
Goals: Prestia (2)
Assists: Rakestraw (4)
Draw Controls: Arroyave (6)
Ground Balls: Barrial/Byrne/Tucker (2)
Caused Turnovers: Barrial (2)
Saves: Hasty (12)
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