PORTLAND, Ore.- Battling through relentless rain, Lewis & Clark College women's lacrosse powered past North Central College for a 14-9 victory on Wednesday night at Griswold Stadium. The Pioneers overcame slick conditions to extend their strong start to the 2025 season, fueled by hat tricks from sophomores Sage Swegle and Aviana Gonzales.
 
THE BASICS
 
Lewis & Clark 14, North Central (Ill.) 9
(Lewis & Clark 4-1)
(North Central 4-1)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Swegle (five goals, one assist) and Gonzales (three goals, two assists) led the Pioneers' offense, combining for eight goals and three assists. Junior Kate Meinhard added two goals and two assists, while first-year Mack Searle contributed two goals and a team-high seven draw controls. Sophomores Finley Allen and Evelyn Burnett each scored once to round out the Pioneers' attack.
 
Goalkeepers Kaitlin McRae and Zoey Hamel-Hyland split time in net, combining for five saves in the victory. Sophomore Lauren Elliott anchored the defense with three ground balls and one caused turnover. First-years Ava Mullen and Kaedance Stubbs each recorded two caused turnovers and one ground ball.
 
Lewis & Clark wasted no time establishing control, jumping to a 3-0 lead in the first period. Swegle opened the scoring at the 14:45 mark with an unassisted goal. Gonzales doubled the lead at 13:09 on a man-down goal before adding her second tally just under a minute later at 12:13, giving the Pioneers a commanding 3-0 advantage.
 
North Central's Abby MacKenzie put the Cardinals on the board with a free-position goal at 9:34, but Searle answered with an unassisted goal at 3:46. Allen capped the first-period scoring with a goal off a Meinhard assist at 2:16, extending the Pioneers' lead to 5-1.
 
The Pioneers continued their offensive surge in the second period. Burnett scored off a Swegle assist at 10:35 to push the lead to 6-1. After North Central scored twice to cut the deficit to 6-3, Searle found the back of the net at 6:55 off a Gonzales assist. Swegle followed with a free-position goal at 6:19, making it 8-3.
 
The Cardinals responded with two more goals, but Gonzales completed her hat trick with six seconds left in the half off a Meinhard assist, giving Lewis & Clark a 9-5 advantage at the break.
 
North Central gained momentum in the third period, holding the Pioneers scoreless while cutting the lead to 9-6 on an Annelise Oster goal at 8:35.
However, Lewis & Clark regained control in the fourth. Swegle scored off a Gonzales assist at 14:02, then converted a free-position shot at 11:42 to extend the lead to 11-6. Meinhard added an unassisted goal at 6:31, making it 12-6.
 
North Central responded with two goals to trim the deficit to 12-8, but the Pioneers sealed the win with back-to-back goals from Meinhard at 0:47 and Swegle at 0:29. The Cardinals scored once more with 17 seconds left, but Lewis & Clark secured the 14-9 victory.
 
BY THE NUMBERS 

• Swegle and Gonzales each recorded their fourth hat trick in five games while maintaining a perfect shot-on-goal percentage. Swegle went 6-for-6, securing her 12th career hat trick, while Gonzales was 5-for-5 on shots.
• Lewis & Clark outshot North Central 26-19 and held a 15-14 edge in draw controls.
• Sophomore Kate Corsaro joined Allen, Searle and Swegle with two ground balls each.
• The Lewis & Clark defense found itself in a 7-on-5 situation three times during the game and held the Cardinals scoreless each time.
• The Pioneers held North Central to its lowest scoring output of the season. The Cardinals entered the game averaging 16.5 goals per contest while allowing just 4.5 goals through their first four games.

WHO'S NEXT
 
Lewis & Clark travels to Pacific for a non-conference game at 1 p.m. on Sunday.