The Blugolds bounced back from their first loss this season with a win against UW-La Crosse.

After falling to UW-River Falls the weekend before, the UW-Eau Claire Women’s Lacrosse team returned to the field, this time against their new adversaries, UW-Lacrosse and Wartburg College.

The battle against UW-La Crosse took place in La Crosse last Friday, April 8. The UW-Eau Claire team managed to pull ahead of their opponents in the second quarter ending the game with a 15-13 score, according to Blugold Athletics.

According to the UW-Eau Claire women’s lacrosse team’s head coach, Aubrianne Hilton Neubert, coming back from their first loss of the season the team forced the team to return to practicing the basics.

“We just needed to center ourselves again,” Neubert said. “We had been riding a pretty solid wave until then so we just needed to get ready to do it again.”

The game began with UW-La Crosse leading 5-6. The game’s turn-around occurred in the first five minutes of the second half with the Blugolds scoring three goals right off the bat.

The Blugolds took to their home field, Simpson Field, on Saturday, April 9, for their game against Wartburg College. 

The Blugolds dominated the first quarter of the game with a score of 8-1 against the Wartburg Knights. The outcome of the game wavered in the second quarter with UW-Eau Claire scoring three goals overall and Wartburg racking up two points. 

The second half began with Samantha Burns, a first-year attackman, scoring two back to back goals for the Blugolds, culminating in a 13-2 lead. UW-Eau Claire’s offense maintained focus until the end of the game, wrapping up with a final score of 22-3 against the Wartburg Knights.  

UW-Eau Claire’s Women’s Lacrosse team has had a successful season since it began in spring. They have won 12 of their 13 games with a 10-week winning streak up to the UW-River Falls game that ended in a Blugold defeat. 

With so many wins so far this season, fourth-year attackmen, Nina Pratt, thinks the team might have a chance of surpassing the record for most wins in a season.

“We might even have a shot at making it to Nationals,” Pratt said.

UW-Eau Claire Women’s Lacrosse team has an opportunity for redemption against UW-River Falls in the upcoming weeks where the game will take place on UW-Eau Claire’s own turf.

Neubert plans to tighten up those basic skills that may have slipped and to focus on what’s most important in the moment.

“The most important thing in that moment, distinguishing what that is and being able to execute that before we jump to the next thing is a big focus for us as we prepare for our game with UW-River Falls,” Neubert said.

Hinrichs can be reached at [email protected].