Lacrosse Drops Season Opener

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Oklahoma Baptist Women's Lacrosse came up short in their season opener against the University of Alabama at Huntsville on Friday afternoon, dropping a 21-7 decision to the hosts.
 
In her debut game for OBU, freshman Lauren McCormack recorded her first career hat trick, notching a goal with every shot she took in the contest. Two of her goals came in the first half, while she sealed the hat trick in the final minute of the game.
 
Going toe-to-toe with last season's No. 1-ranked offense, the Lady Bison grabbed a quick lead off a free-position score by Breanna Wichert, the first goal of her career. The Chargers responded with two goals of their own to go up, 2-1, before McCormack scored her first of the day to level the score. A miscue on a man-up advantage game UAH the lead again on a fast break, but Alexis Martin made sure OBU kept pace by finishing off the man-up opportunity following the draw. The Chargers would score nine of the next 11 goals, though McCormack and Maysn Ungerer each made the back of the net bulge before entering halftime down 13-5.
 
Huntsville's run continued through much of the second half, but Martin and McCormack each netted one more time in the final 3:18 to make the final score.
 
"Making your debut in front of a rowdy crowd is never easy, but I felt that Courtney [Barnickle] did a fantastic job keeping us in the game in the first half," said OBU head coach Jordan Beech. "It may not reflect it in the final score, but the game was closer than it appeared.
 
"It really came down to us missing chances on free-positions and man-up opportunities, and just not finishing shots like I know we can. However, I love the fact that we ended the game with the last two goals, and it's definitely something to build on with Montevallo in our sights tomorrow morning."
 
Oklahoma Baptist scooped up 18 groundballs to UAH's 21, led by Paige Morrison and Haley Ballard with five and four, respectively. The Lady Bison also forced 11 turnovers, and Morrison accounted for nearly half of them with five to her credit.
 
Barnickle, making her collegiate debut, stopped nine shots, but took the first loss of her career.
 
Oklahoma Baptist drops to 0-1 with the loss and face a short turnaround, heading to Montevallo, Alabama, to face the University of Montevallo at 11 a.m. on Saturday.