Women's Lacrosse Pulls Away From Mount Mercy on the Road

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, (April 3, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College women's lacrosse team traveled to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for a Heart of America Athletic Conference game against Mount Mercy (Iowa).  The Vikings pulled away from the Mustangs in the second half for a 17-8 victory.

Missouri Valley took control of the game from the start as Freshman Midfielder Hailey Davis (Maryville, Tenn.) won the opening draw and scored the first goal of the game just moments into play.  The two teams traded chances over the next two minutes, as Junior Goalkeeper Melissa Sandoval (Weiser, Idaho) made her first save of the game.  The Vikings were awarded a free-position opportunity, and Sophomore Midfielder Hailey Harmon (Bonne Terre, Mo.) scored on the chance to increase the advantage to 2-0 with less than three minutes off the clock.  Mount Mercy answered back moments after the restart, and scored to cut the gap down to 2-1.  Missouri Valley took control over the next several minutes, as Davis, Harmon and Freshman Attack Atleigh Lark (Alma, Mo.) each scored on free-position opportunities to make it a 5-1 lead with just over five minutes to play in the quarter.  The advantage stretched out to 7-1 as Freshman Defender Miranda Wilson (Idaho Falls, Idaho) and Davis each added one goal through the four-minute mark.  Mount Mercy tacked on one more goal in the final minutes of the quarter, and MVC stayed on top, 7-2.

The second quarter opened with early chances created by the Mustangs.  Sandoval made a save moments into the quarter, and MMU shrunk the deficit down to 7-3 with just over one minute played.  The two teams traded possession over a more than five minute stretch until Lark scored at the eight-minute mark.  The ensuing draw was controlled by the Vikings and resulted in a goal moments later from Wilson to make it a 9-3 score.  The final goal of the quarter came with three minutes to play before the break as Mount Mercy closed the gap to 9-4 going into halftime.

Play in the third quarter started with two shots on goal for Missouri Valley, but both chances were saved.  The Mustangs answered and put one shot into the net to cut the deficit down to 9-5 with just over four minutes off the clock.  Missouri Valley registered its first goal of the half midway through the quarter, as Wilson added another free-position score to make it a 10-5 lead.  Wilson tallied another goal with just over three minutes to play in the quarter, while Mount Mercy scored with seconds remaining to send the teams into the fourth quarter at 11-6.

The Mustangs worked closer to open the fourth quarter, scoring one more goal to sit in an 11-7 deficit with less than 13-minutes to play in the game.  Missouri Valley responded with a series of goals to put the contest out of reach.  Harmon scored near the 12-minute mark, and was followed nearly two minutes later by a goal from Junior Midfielder Allexis Lark (Alma, Mo.).  Atleigh Lark came through with another goal moments after the ensuing draw control, and Davis tacked on a free-position goal with less than nine minutes remaining.  With a one-player advantage, Freshman Attack Rose Szymanski (Southampton, England) scored on a free-position shot near the five-minute mark, while Davis took advantage of another free-position chance as the game neared three minutes left to play to cap the scoring run.  Mount Mercy added one more late goal, but Missouri Valley finished out a 17-8 win.

Davis led with five goals and one assist, while Wilson added four goals and one assist.  Atleigh Lark had three goals and one assist, and Harmon scored three goals.  Sandoval made 10 saves in goal.  Allexis Lark led with six ground balls, while Wilson totaled four caused turnovers.  Missouri Valley forced Mount Mercy into 31 turnovers and came up with 16 ground balls.  The 17 goals is the most in a single-game since a 21-1 win over Morningside (Iowa), bac on March 27, 2021

Missouri Valley improves to 2-4 on the season and 1-1 in the Heart.  Mount Mercy drops to 0-8 overall and 0-4 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking women's lacrosse team hosts No. 10 Benedictine (Kan.) in a Heart contest, Saturday at 12 p.m., inside Volney C. Ashford Stadium.

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ABOUT MISSOURI VALLEY COLLEGE

Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 30 academic programs, study abroad program, extracurricular activities, and a wide variety of sports. The most popular majors include education and business, criminal justice and exercise science. Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.