PAINESVILLE, Ohio -- The Lake Erie women's lacrosse team celebrated Senior Day in style Saturday afternoon, cruising to an 18-6 win over Ursuline. The Storm rushed out to an 8-0 lead and never looked back, stretching the advantage to as many as 14. Junior Madelyn Goodrich headlined the afternoon, scoring five goals and hitting the 100-goal milestone for her career, continuing a scorching stretch in which she's tallied 20 goals over the last four games. The victory marked Lake Erie's first G-MAC win of the season, improving to 2-14 overall.

Game Recap

Lake Erie's offense had its best start of the season, pouring in eight goals on 13 shots in the first quarter. Goodrich got things going just 46 seconds in, followed by Brooke McNeal less than two minutes later. Redshirt junior and longtime defender Anna Horen made the most of her moment, scoring her first career goal to make it 3-0. Goodrich added another shortly after. Reese Friesen joined the scoring spree before Corinne Shimek — recently back from injury — buried back-to-back goals. McNeal capped off the quarter with her second of the day with just under a minute to go, sending the Storm into the second period up 8-0.

Ursuline responded with resilience in the second, holding the Storm to just three shots. Impressively, the Arrows capitalized on all three of their own shots-on-goal, cutting into the deficit and heading into halftime down 10-3. For Lake Erie, Vanessa Krix scored at the 9-minute mark, and Goodrich completed her hat trick — her fifth straight game with three or more goals and her eighth overall this season.

Lake Erie came out of the break with total control, dominating the third period 6-0 while allowing just one shot-on-goal. Goodrich, needing two more to hit 100, didn't wait long — scoring twice within the first three minutes to hit the century mark. Shout-out to Head Coach Lindy Brobeck calling a timeout to give Goodrich a well-deserved moment with the Senior Day crowd. The Storm kept their foot on the gas, with Friesen scoring again to make it 13-4. Defender Megan Schanz followed with her first goal of the season to trigger a running clock. Amelia Shirk and freshman Rachel Rose added scores to close the quarter at 16-4.

Shannon Smith, the G-MAC leader in groundballs, opened the fourth with her second goal of the season. Freshman Olivia Sopraseuth then added a highlight-worthy goal to tie the team's season-high with 18 goals. Ursuline scored the game's final two, but the Storm had already sealed a dominant and memorable Senior Day win.

Player Notes

• Madelyn Goodrich continues to dazzle, as she is riding a 10-game scoring streak and has poured in 20 goals in the last four games. This stretch has propelled her to sixth in the G-MAC for goals (43) and breaks her season scoring total from last year (38).

• Brooke McNeal's two goals put her at 45 on the season, good for fourth-most in the conference.

• Corinne Shimek netted two goals, her first scores of the season and her second multi-goal game of her excellent career in the green and white.

• Reese Friesen, Goodrich, and McNeal each dished out two assists. Friesen leads the team with 17, followed by Goodrich (12) and McNeal (11).

• Ground balls were a huge emphasis tonight in a total team effort. Shannon Smith paced the team with five, as she now leads the conference by 15. Six other Storm players collected three or more.

• Megan Schanz and Friesen each caused three turnovers, followed by Shimek, McNeal, and Lainey Davis, who each caused two.

• McNeal was excellent on draw controls, winning six and tying her season high.

• Avery Artino played the first two periods behind goal for the Storm, saving four shots. Bethany Kirkwood relieved her after halftime and held it down for her squad.

Team Notes

• For the first time since their win over Saginaw Valley, Lake Erie won the shot differential, this time by a mark of 29-13. Their defensive performance ties their season-low allowed.

• The Storm went a blistering 86.2% on shots being on goal, their third-best mark of the season. They had 25 such shots, while the Arrows only had 10.

• Ursuline's 36 turnovers are the most they've coughed up this season, a testament to the stifling Storm defense.

• Both sides converted 11 clears, yet Lake Erie went 11/16 while the Arrows were an abysmal 11/26.

• Lake Erie was aggressive on ground balls, collecting 34—just short of their season-high of 35 set against Davis & Elkins.

• Draw controls were also an area of success for the Storm, as they won 16 out of a possible 28. They were also exceptional on free-position shots, netting all three of their opportunities.

The Matchup

The Storm have dominated the all-time series against Ursuline, winning all 12 battles against the Arrows since their first face-off in 2014. 

Looking Ahead

Last up on Lake Erie's schedule is a final home game against Thomas More on Thursday, April 17th at 6 p.m. The Saints began their season 0-12 before winning back-to-back conference games over Malone (12-6) and Northwood (23-18). Sophomore Anna Wells (40) and Junior Pierani (34) have combined for over half of the teams' goals, and Sophomore Alex Nunn is tied for fourth in the G-MAC.