NEW CONCORD, Ohio - The Kalamazoo College women's lacrosse team hit the road for its first game of the 2023 season, traveling to Muskingum on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 18). The Hornets started the season 1-0 with an 18-9 victory over the Fighting Muskies.
After Muskingum scored the game's opening goal in the first quarter, Ella Spooner responded for Kalamazoo by scoring her first two career collegiate goals. However, the Fighting Muskies came back to put away two goals to retake the lead. Sophie Hartl scored the equalizing goal with less than a minute left, but Muskingum scored 20 seconds later to take a 4-3 lead after one period of play.
The Hornets took control in the second quarter by scoring five of the six goals. Abbie Caza tallied her first career collegiate goal to tie the game back up before the Fighting Muskies retook the lead with a man advantage. Kalamazoo scored four unanswered goals to take a three-goal lead heading into halftime. Caza scored her second goal of the game, and then Hannah Heeren put away her first of the season. Then, it was Spooner who scored her third of the game, this time with a man advantage, and Caza who also scored her third of the game to make the score 8-5.
Kalamazoo kept the momentum going to begin the second half with goals from Spooner and Caza, both their fourth of the game. After Muskingum got a goal back, three straight goals by Spooner, Caza, and Heeren pushed the lead out to 13-6. The Fighting Muskies responded with another goal, but Caza put away her fifth of the game just before the third quarter ended.
Natalie Maki opened the final quarter with her first goal to take the lead up to eight. Then, it was Muskingum who tried to get back into the game with two goals, but the Hornets scored the final three times to take home the nine-goal win. Heeren, Caza, and Spooner topped off their big days with another goal a piece.
Jordan Flink (1-0) started in goal and began the season with seven saves on 16 attempts. Caza led the team with five ground balls, Heeren collected eight draw controls, and Spooner had two caused turnovers.
Offensively, Caza led the way with seven goals and an assist in her first collegiate game. Spooner also played in her first game at Kalamazoo and came away with six goals and an assist. Heeren totaled three goals, while Hartl and Maki scored a goal a piece.
As a team, the Hornets finished with more ground balls (26-24), draw controls (18-13), and shots (37-23), while both teams had 19 fouls each. In addition, Kalamazoo forced 23 turnovers, was 13-19 on clear opportunities, and 2-3 on free position shots.
The Hornets will be back in action on Saturday (Feb. 25) with a road game at Ohio Northern, beginning at 1 p.m.