Eagles Win Second Straight At Home, Topple Golden Eagles

Ashland University's women's lacrosse team earned its second consecutive win at Ferguson Field on Friday (March 24), taking an 11-8 decision from Charleston (W.Va.).
 
The Eagles enter Great Midwest Athletic Conference play at 4-5, and the Golden Eagles are 0-6.
 
Ashland took a 3-2 lead at the end of the first quarter and didn't relinquish it.
 
NOTABLES

• Freshman attacker Rachel Crumbacher led the Ashland offense with two goals and five assists for seven points. Crumbacher leads the Eagles with 37 points (18 points, 19 assists) in her first nine collegiate games.
• Senior attacker Cassady Becker returned to play after injury and posted three goals and an assist on Friday, and fifth-year midfielder Natalie Sonntag added two goals and an assist.
• Ashland's defense kept an opponent to single-digit goals for the fourth time this spring, and senior goalkeeper Jillian Rekulak made four saves.
• The Eagles had a 25-17 shots advantage.

 
QUOTABLES

• "This definitely was a good confidence boost," said Ashland head coach Lauren Simko. "To have eight assists on 11 goals definitely gets us excited for what we can accomplish. It definitely a whole-team win today."
• "I think that we were down on ourselves," Crumbacher said of the recent five-game losing streak. "We had to get out of whatever funk we were in, and we figured it out. I like passing. I like setting my teammates for success better."
• "She is a really good asset," Simko said of Crumbacher. "She's a huge playmaker on attack. She can pass, she can score. She's come a long way, and we're excited to see what else she'll bring to the table."
• "We held them pretty well today," said junior defender Alexis Montalvo. "Everything was really good. And I think had a really good defensive unit today."
• "I think we're as a ready as we could be," said Simko of the start of conference play. "We're excited."
• Said Montalvo, "Walsh is definitely going to be a hard game. We're really excited."

 
UP NEXT
Ashland's conference opener is Sunday (March 26) at noon at home against Walsh (6-2).