The College of Wooster women's lacrosse team saw its historic season come to an end Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Division III Championships held at John P. Papp Stadium.
No. 21 University of Chicago proved to be too much, defeating the Scots 23-7
Wooster reached the second round after defeating Hope College, 20-9, on Friday. That gave Wooster its first NCAA Tournament win in program history and made the team the winningest program with 17 wins as well.
"We are excited with what we were able to accomplish this season," said Wooster head coach Liz Ford. "We worked really hard today and would have liked to have seen a few more things fall our way, but I don't think I could have asked for them to do much more than what they gave us."
Chicago (13-4) gained a comfortable lead quick, scoring the game's first nine goals. The Maroons went up 5-0 within the first five minutes, and Wooster (17-4) could not find an answer.
When they did, it came in the form of junior Sophia Mellis, who scored on back-to-back unassisted goals, cutting the Chicago lead to 9-2 with 4:11 remaining in the first quarter.
Junior Lizzie Hardy found the back of the goal later, but Chicago led 11-3 after one quarter.
Those were Mellis's only two scores on the day, but it was enough to lead the Scots in scoring for the game.
The two teams played tighter in the second quarter as Chicago held a one-goal advantage in the stanza. Kaitlyn McBride and Cassidy Driscoll scored in the quarter, and Chicago led 14-5 at halftime.
Junior Bella Woodbury and first-year Mizan Jacobs got on the board for the Scots in the second half.
Chicago was led by a six-goal performance from Lulu Hardy and Peyton McGuire.
The Maroons almost doubled the shot production of the Scots in the first half and ended up outshooting Wooster 41-26.
Sophomore goalkeeper Audrey Richardson made eight saves in the losing effort. Her counterpart Rachel Keefe made 10 saves.
Hardy and Jacobs each led the team with three groundballs. Junior Sidney O'Rourke led the way with seven draw controls.
Senior Ashlyn Casey caused a team-high three turnovers. Three of the seniors reflected on their time at Wooster after the game.
"I couldn't have asked for a better senior season," Casey said. "I was saying this in our huddle, seeing our girls from year one to year four it has just been … I don't have words to put together to describe how proud I am of us and this team."
Kenzie Morris was able to see limited playing time at the draws this weekend following an injury late in the season, but it was a nice send off for one of the program's more accomplished scorers.
"Obviously, it wasn't in the full capacity that I wanted," Morris said. "I would have loved to have been on the attack but just being able to start the game and take draws, I was very happy to just able to do that with my team one last time."
McBride, who finished with a goal and an assist, reflected on the moment when she saw Wooster's name come up during the selection show.
"I remember just seeing our name and not even looking at the star to see that we were hosting because I was still going crazy," McBride said. "Everyone was just electric."
Wooster sends off eight seniors, who won a combined 52 wins in the past four years.
Photo by Matt Dilyard
