YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- Mackenzie Blackwell scored five goals while Katheryn Wilson added a hat trick to help the Eastern Michigan University lacrosse team capture a 12-8 victory in its home opener over visiting Butler University Sunday, Feb. 8, inside the Indoor Practice Facility in Ypsilanti. The Eagles (1-1) rebounded from an opening-game loss to secure the win by handing the Bulldogs (1-1) their first loss of the season.
How It Happened
Eastern got on the board first with a pair of woman-up goals as the Eagles would score a facility-record six times on the advantage on the day, including the first two goals of the game from Blackwell (North Beach, Md./Northern). Blackwell scored the first at 12:20 on a pass from Wilson (Dacula, Ga./Mill Creek) before making it 2-0 with a free-position goal at 7:44. The visitors cut the lead to 2-1 with a goal at 1:42, but Abby Alderman (Lusby, Md./Patuxent), off a pass from Tracy Grollman (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis Area Christian School), scored just 39 seconds later to send the game into the second quarter with EMU ahead, 3-1.
The Bulldogs closed the gap once again with a goal early in the second before Wilson scored back-to-back goals, including her first on a pass from Kendall Nagle (Sudlersville, Md./Queen Anne's County), who recorded her first career assist, before adding a free-position goal for a 5-2 lead. After two goals from the visitors made it a one-goal game, the Eagles responded by scoring twice more, starting with Blackwell finishing her hat trick with a woman-up free-position goal and Ab. Alderman adding her second of the day for a 7-4 halftime lead.
Neither team was able to score in the third quarter before BU tallied twice in early succession to open the fourth and cut the EMU lead to 7-6. The Eagles, however, responded with two goals, including Blackwell scoring at 10:40 before assisting on an Amber Alderman (Lusby, Md./Patuxent) goal with 6:22 to play. The Bulldogs added one more, but the Eagles would put the game out of reach with a three-goal run, starting by Wilson completing her hat trick off a pass from Am. Alderman. Blackwell scored her fifth off a Wilson pass before Emerson Henry (Ashburn, Ontario/Donald A. Wilson) tallied the final EMU goal on a pass from Stella Burke (Peterborough, Ontario/St. Peter's Catholic Secondary). Butler scored with 1:04 to play but got no closer in the 12-8 final.
