MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Lewis & Clark College women's lacrosse continued its spring break road trip through the Midwest with a dominant 21–3 victory over Milwaukee School of Engineering on Tuesday evening.
 
THE BASICS
 
Lewis & Clark 21, MSOE 3
(Lewis & Clark 7-2)
(MSOE 0-6)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

Sophomore Aviana Gonzales delivered a historic performance, tallying six goals and five assists for a program-record 11 points. She broke the program's single-season points record—previously held by fellow sophomore Sage Swegle—just before halftime, then added five more points to finish with 52 entering Northwest Conference play. Gonzales also set the program record for single-game assists and tied Swegle's single-game goals mark with her double hat trick.

Junior Kate Meinhard scored four goals to post back-to-back hat tricks for the first time in her collegiate career. Sophomores Evelyn Burnett and Swegle added three goals apiece; Burnett notched her first career hat trick, while Swegle recorded her team-leading 13th in just two seasons.

Sophomores Finley Allen and Mack Searle each scored two goals, with Searle also adding an assist and a team-high eight draw controls. Sophomore Ally Vargas-Buell rounded out the scoring with one goal and one assist, as the Pioneers set the program record for points in a single game.

First-year goalkeeper Kaitlin McRae earned her sixth win of the season with five saves and a team-high four ground balls in 30 minutes of action. Sophomore Zoey Hamel-Hyland played the second half and recorded one save. Together, they set a program record for save percentage in a game at .667.

Lewis & Clark jumped out to an impressive 4–0 lead in the first quarter. Gonzales opened the scoring at 13:18 with an assist from Vargas-Buell, then added an unassisted goal at 12:43. Meinhard made it 3–0 just 30 seconds later, and Gonzales capped off the opening run with her third goal at 10:07, marking her first hatty of the game with less than five minutes gone.

After Burnett extended the lead to 5–0 at 7:10 on a Gonzales assist, MSOE's Chloe Ninmann broke through at 1:05. The Pioneers answered quickly, with Swegle scoring with 17 seconds left in the quarter off another Gonzales assist, making it 6–1 after one.

The Pioneers maintained control in the second quarter. Burnett scored her second goal at 5:52 to make it 7–1. After MSOE's Lilly Johnson cut it to 7–2 at 2:52, Gonzales responded with her fourth goal at 2:42—assisted by Searle—which marked her record-setting 47th point of the season. Allen added an unassisted goal at 2:03 to give Lewis & Clark a 9–2 halftime lead.

Defensively, Searle collected both of her ground balls in the second quarter, setting a program record for ground balls in a season (31), surpassing Meinhard. McRae recorded three ground balls and two saves in the same period.

Lewis & Clark dominated the third quarter, outscoring MSOE 7–1. Meinhard struck first at 14:34 on a Gonzales assist, then added another unassisted goal at 12:06. Allen and Burnett followed with goals at 11:11 and 9:18, respectively—Burnett's completing her hat trick. Swegle and Vargas-Buell added goals later in the quarter, with Gonzales assisting on the latter. After Ninmann scored her second goal for MSOE at 3:28, Searle responded with a goal at 1:22, off Gonzales' fifth assist, to make it 16–3.

In the fourth quarter, the Pioneers added five more goals while shutting out the Raiders. Meinhard opened the frame with an unassisted goal at 13:07. Swegle scored her third at 10:50, Searle added another at 9:35, and Gonzales closed the scoring with two unassisted goals at 7:44 and 6:24 to seal the 21–3 victory.

BY THE NUMBERS

• The Pioneers set a program record with 21 goals in a game, surpassing their previous mark of 19 (vs. Elmhurst on March 24 and Pacific Lutheran on March 1). The 18-goal margin was also the largest in program history.
• Meinhard scored four goals for the fourth time this season.
• Lewis & Clark won 20 of 28 draw controls, with Searle (8) and Meinhard (7) combining for 15.
• Gonzales leads the Northwest Conference in total points and is tied for the most points and assists in a single game.
• The Pioneers improved to 5–0 on the road this season and have won six straight away from Griswold Stadium.

WHO'S NEXT
 
Lewis & Clark will travel to Salem, Oregon, to face Willamette University on April 1 for their first Northwest Conference game in program history. Game time is set for 5 p.m.