Charleston, W. Va – The women's lacrosse program had their first two games at home this weekend on Friday and Sunday against Lewis University and the University of Mount Union. The squad was looking for their first win of the season coming off a 7-15 loss to Tusculum University on the road in their season opener. 
 
The Basics
Location: Welch Athletic Complex
Score: UC 9, LU 11
Records: UC (0-2), LU (1-0) 
 
How it Happened
Despite the well-played defense, the Golden Eagles were unable to find the back of the net in their first home game of the year. They improved the amount of shots they had taken in their first game, going from 11 total shots to 34. 21 of those shots were on frame, but Flyers goalie Kaitlyn Palmer would put up an impressive 12 saves and only allowed nine to go past her. Georgia Ryan would break even with 11 goals and 11 saves on the day in her first start of the year. 
 
Lewis University would create a large margin on the scoreboard in the second quarter of the game, scoring six goals compared to the lone goal scored by Madison Partridge with 7:45 to go in the quarter, making the score 5-3. The Flyers would manage two goals from Carlie Serritella and Emily Meredith before the halftime horn to go into the locker room with a 7-3 lead over the Golden Eagles. 
 
Charleston would come out of the locker room and find two goals from Darby Stolz in the third quarter, who would have an impressive day in her first start at the Welch Athletic Complex on her birthday. Lewis University would find two goals to match the Golden Eagles in the quarter to head into the fourth maintaining their margin from the previous half. Charleston began to light up on the offensive attack and cut the lead down throughout the fourth quarter. Stolz would find two more goals in the fourth while Destiny Jackson and Madison Partridge added on to the tally with their scores. With 2:00 remaining in the game, Stolz would score and make the score 9-11 with Charleston down by two. After a desperation shot from Antonia Martinez sailed wide of the net, the Flyers would maintain possession of the ball as time winded down and would prevent the last second comeback with the 11-9 victory on the road. 
 
The Basics
Location: Welch Athletic Complex
Score: UC 12, UMU 13
Records: UC (0-3), UMU (2-0) 
 
In their second home game, the Golden Eagles took on the Raiders of Mount Union. The Raiders had already met an MEC school this season in West Virginia Wesleyan and defeated them by a whopping score of 21-2. This contest would go the distance as it would take an extra period of sudden death to come to a decision. 
Tess Yuhas and Madison Partridge would lead offensively in the opening half as they each contributed two goals to the score accompanied by dual-sport athlete Gianni Blundell who also found a goal in the half. Despite the scoring, the Raiders matched every goal the Golden Eagles were able to find. Mackenzie Kolstad would find two while Julia Bates, Eden Kesler, and Madi Karr would join in each with a goal apiece. At the end of the first half, Charleston and Mount Union were deadlocked at 5-5. 
 
Charleston would have an electrifying third quarter as they would come out and go on a 5-1 run over the Raiders to take a 10-6 lead. 7 of the 12 shots that they took in the quarter were on net and they created many opportunities on offense for themselves. What's even more impressive was Mount Union won majority of the draws in the third quarter, which meant Charleston was playing lock down defense and disallowed any offense from the Raiders. Georgia Ryan would put up three saves with four shots on frame and allowed for the offense to spread the margin. In the fourth, it was the Raiders who would go on a run, as they would find six goals in the fourth quarter compared to Charleston's two goal. Charleston's final goal, however, would be the most crucial as the Raiders had found the lead with their six. Tess Yuhas would find the back of the net on a beautiful assist from Blundell and the game would head to a sudden death overtime. 
 
Charleston would find one chance in the overtime period to win the game. After a stop on defense, the Golden Eagles marched down the field in attempt to seal the deal. A two-on-one attack would fail in the crease and the Raiders would make the crucial stop in their own territory. Traveling back to the other end, the Raiders would win on a Julia Bates goal to take the 13-12 victory over Charleston. 
 
Up Next
The Golden Eagles will be back at home next Monday on March 6^th at 7:00 PM as they take on Young Harris College.