NEWBERRY, S.C. – The Wheeling Jesuit Cardinals women's lacrosse team started its 2016 season with an offensive explosion. WJU erupted for 13 first half goals en route to a 16-6 victory over Newberry College Monday afternoon.
WJU dominated every aspect of the game. The Cardinals outshot the Newberry Wolves 35-12, caused 16 turnovers, and prevailed 14-9 on draw controls. Eight different Cardinals scored in the victory.
"I am happy that our team played composed and battled through the circumstances we faced before and early into the game," said WJU head coach Tim Florence. "A few girls had to make a few changes to their sticks. We had a few girls at med express for flu-like symptoms. Elizabeth (Hales) started on the bench due to this, and she came on the field and really sparked our team with her four goals. Jessie (Tufnell) had to leave the game due to injury after scoring the first goal. I am very proud of the way we battled today."
The WJU scoring was opened up by nobody other than the returning Mountain East Conference player of the year, Jessie Tufnell. Tufnell made the Newberry goalie miss on a shot with 24:18 remaining in the first half, and the Cardinals would never trail.
Newberry scored the next goal to tie the contest at one apiece before the Cardinals erupted. WJU scored the next 11 goals and opened up a 12-1 lead. WJU finished the half with a 13-2 advantage.
Elizabeth Hales, Paige Plesich, and Markie Wright all scored three goals in the first half of play.
Hales first got on the board with 13:09 remaining before scoring twice within a ten second span, 7:01 and 6:52. Wright scored two of the final three first-half goals for WJU, while Plesich scored two consecutive goals for WJU, 12:17 and 8:12, and assisted on two other scores.
Olivia Krock scored one goal in the first half before opening up the second half scoring. She finished the day with two goals, a team-high three groundballs, and one caused turnover.
Hales finished with four goals on five shots. She also scooped up one groundball. Wright and Plesich both finished with three scores. Plesich added two assists.
Kori Hickman, Jessie Tufnell, Mary Burns, and Kate Calder all found the back of the net once. Hickman and Burns were also credited with an assist each.
Ally Coggins handed out one assist and picked up two groundballs. Maire Austin stopped four Newberry shots.
The Cardinals continue their spring trip tomorrow, March 1 with a 2 p.m. matchup against Montreat College.
