M OR N IN GS ID E C O L L E G E
M ATC H DAY - M A RC H 6, 2021
MUSTANG LACROSSE The 2021 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference slate begins this afternoon with Ottawa University paying a visit to Tom Rosen Field. It’s another historical addition for head men’s coach Jack O’Brien and head women’s coach Caitlyn St. Marie’s programs, as it’s the first home doubleheader in school history. St. Marie’s women’s squad has already played a match on the home FieldTurf against National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Cornell College on Feb. 28.
the MATCH UP Despite being just one game into the calendar, St. Marie’s team is robust on National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’ statistical merits. Freshman goalkeeper Natalie Hunt is eighth in saves per match (nine), and 18th in total saves sporting the same number. Team-wise, that same statistic is among the nation’s 20 best. Amid their home goal area and coming off a 22-1 loss to Cornell in the home opener, St. Marie’s Mustangs rightly celebrated reaching a goal that had been a ways off in the distance when the fledgling program took flight in May of 2018 --playing a home match. “We all had a lot of emotions at match end,” Morningside’s head coach said. “It’s been such a process to get to this point --- so much practice and time spent working on the game. It was great playing against a program I played for, too. I thought the game went well, as we accomplished the things that we wanted to work on --- I’ve been telling them all week I just wanted to see us never give up and always give 100 percent. We met both of those goals.” The glow on sophomore attacker Macy Hajek’s face was shining brightly less than four minutes before halftime, too. The Tyndall, S.D., native beat the Cornell defense to the left of their net and fired home a goal to make program history. Beyond Hajek’s goal and Hunt’s save totals, junior midfielder/ attacker Ashlea Wolfe facing off against a returning Midwest Collegiate Lacrosse