NORTH CANTON, Ohio -- The Lake Erie women's lacrosse team competed against the Cavaliers from Walsh University on Wednesday evening, exiting with a 19-4 loss. The Storm took an early lead as Brooke McNeal scored on LEC's first shot of the game, but the home team quickly responded with three straight to go up 3-1. Lake Erie answered right back, though, as McNeal converted on a free-position opportunity to cut the deficit to 3-2 midway through the period, where the score would hold for the remainder of the quarter.

From there, however, it was all Walsh. The Cavaliers scored the only five goals of the second period to take an 8-2 lead into halftime, then added five more to open the third, marking 10 unanswered goals before LEC could respond. Gabriella Adie snapped the scoring drought late in the third, but Walsh continued to pour it on en route to a 19-4 win. McNeal added another goal in the fourth to complete the hat trick, bringing her to a team-high 14 on the season.

Despite the final score, Lake Erie found success in a few areas, going 13-for-17 on clears and winning eight draw controls. However, Walsh controlled possession for much of the game, finishing with 21 more shots and 18 more on target.

Looking Ahead

Heading back to Canton on Saturday, the Storm will battle Malone University. Last season, the Pioneers defeated LEC 13-7 before falling to Findlay in the G-MAC Quarterfinals. Sitting at 8-2 this year, Malone holds the best overall record in the conference, though they dropped their first G-MAC matchup to the Oilers, 11-5. One notable result includes a 14-8 win over Point Park, an opponent that defeated Lake Erie 17-8.

Malone goalkeeper Sydney Atkinson leads the conference in both save percentage (52.3%) and goals-against average (7.72), while the Pioneers also rank first in scoring margin (+6.2) and assists per game (10.2).