Westminster Travels to Minnesota for Two Games
The Westminster women's lacrosse team is set to spend the weekend in St. Paul, Minn. to play a pair of games. The Griffins will face Concordia, St. Paul on Friday at 6 p.m. MDT. They will then be back in action on Saturday when they face Findlay at 11 a.m. MDT. Both games will be played in the Concordia Dome at Sea Foam Stadium.
 
About the Griffins
Westminster continues its second season of NCAA Division II play with this second road trip in two weeks. They are 0-1 overall this season after an 18-8 loss at Colorado Mesa in a non-conference game last Saturday.
 
The Griffins took 24 shots in that games and got 21 of those on cage. They converted 2 of 7 free-position shots and tallied two assists. The team claimed 18 draw controls and picked up 16 ground balls. They committed 29 turnovers and had 12 caused turnovers.
 
Katie Adams and Madison Ingman each scored two goals on Saturday to tie for the team lead. Morgan Bakarich and Kira Heiden finished with one goal and one assist to tie them with Adams and Ingman for the team lead with two points. Kristina Sewell and Kathleen Hendershott had one goal apiece.
 
Adams led the team with six shots and scored one free-position goal. Heiden and Allison Lambert led the team with four draw controls while Annelie Preite leading the team with four ground balls. Preite also had a team-high four caused turnovers.
 
Westminster allowed Mesa to take 39 shots with 34 of them on goal. The Griffins committed 32 fouls and they forced the Mavericks into 19 turnovers. Westminster posted a .476 clearing percentage and allowed Mesa a .750 clearing percentage. The team made 16 saves with a .471 save percentage.
 
Taylor Hekking got the start in cage and made seven saves with a .467 save percentage in defeat. Mikala Anderson played the entire second half with eight saves and .444 save percentage. Caitlyn Laffey made one save without allowing a goal in five minutes.
 
Adams Streaking
With two goals in the opener, Katie Adams extended her streak of consecutive games with a goal to 23 straight. That is the third-longest streak in team history and nine shy of the record. Adams scored 29 goals last season and led the team with 38 points. She was sixth in the RMAC with an average of 3.45 points per game while leading the conference by taking 6.64 shots per game.
 
Heiden Climbing
Kira Heiden opened her senior season with one goal and one assist and she now has 101 goals in her career. She ranks in the school's top-10 in eight statistical categories to begin the year. Along with being sixth in goals, she holds that rankings in assists (30), points (131), shots (177), and shots on goal (151). Heiden led the Griffins with 31 goals last season and she was fourth in the RMAC by scoring 2.82 goals per game.
 
Ingman Sharing
Madison Ingman scored two goals in the season opener and is tied for the team lead in goals and points. She led the Griffins with 12 assists last season as a freshman. She recorded at least one assists in eight of the team's 11 games with multiple assists in a game five times. Her 1.09 assists per game placed 10th in the conference. Ingman also added 18 goals for 30 points to place third on the team in each category.
 
Preite Defending
Annelise Preite had a stellar opening game for the Griffins by leading the team with four ground balls and four caused turnovers. Last season, Preite was third on the team with 10 caused turnovers while ranking fourth on the team with 16 ground balls. She now has at least one CT in seven games with multiple CTs in a game three times.
 
Hekking Stopping
Taylor Hekking made her 12th consecutive start in goal for the Griffins on Saturday. She played the first 25 minutes and made seven saves with a .467 save percentage in taking the loss. Hekking finished her freshman season with 70 saves and was fifth in the RMAC at 6.36 saves per game. Hekking had a .323 save percentage and 16.47 goals-against-average over her 535 minutes of action.
 
Opponent Info: Concordia, St. Paul
• Concordia, St. Paul is 2-0 in their inaugural season.
• The Golden Bears have defeated Northland and Marian in home games.
• Alina Boyce leads the team with six goals and seven points.
• Friday will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
 
Opponent Info: Findlay
• Findlay will begin their season on Saturday against the Griffins.
• The Oilers finished 12-8 last season and advanced to the GLIAC title game.
• Kyra Bradley returns after leading the team with 55 goals and 70 points last season.
• The two teams will meet for the first time on Saturday.
 
Looking Ahead
Following this weekend trip the Griffins will take a week off from competition before returning to action against UCCS in the RMAC opener on March 11 in Colorado Springs, Colo. That game is set for a noon opening draw from Mountain Lion Stadium.