FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - The historic 2023 season for the Brevard College women's lacrosse team (11-6) came to a conclusion with a 23-8 defeat at the hands of four-seed Methodist University (12-5) on Monday afternoon in the first round of the USA South Conference Women's Lacrosse Tournament.
The contest marked BC's first postseason appearance since the 2016 South Atlantic Conference Tournament and the second overall tournament appearance in program history.
Seniors Autumn Kraemer and Parker Moore and freshman Paige Kneubuhler each scored a pair of goals for the Tornados. Sophomore Emily Denaga added one goal and an assist with five draw controls won, while freshman Xan Hill also scored a goal. Goalkeeper Lex MacLauchlin made 13 saves while sophomore Cassidy Hutto caused four turnovers for the Tornado defense.
Methodist's Mikayla Ramos scored six goals to lead the Monarch offense as five Methodist players scored multiple goals. Kayla Nee added a game-high six assists.
Shot attempts were 36-20 in favor of Methodist while the Tornados made 13 saves to MU's five. Methodist picked up 28 ground balls to Brevard's 21 and the hosts forced 28 BC turnovers and held the Tornados to a 9-for-22 mark on clear attempts. On the draw, Methodist held a 21-13 edge
After a game-opening goal from Ramos, Brevard was able to score three consecutive goals to force a Monarch timeout, as Denaga, Hill, and Kraemer all found the back of the net to give BC a 3-1 lead at the 7:38 mark. However, Methodist scored a goal 13 seconds following the break in action and went on to score 13 unanswered goals to make it a 14-3 contest at the 6:40 mark in the second period. BC scored two of the final three goals in the first half as the hosts took a 10-goal lead, 15-5 into the intermission.
Methodist went on to outscore the Tornados 6-2 in the third period and added a 2-1 advantage in the fourth period to take the first-round victory, 23-8.
The defeat caps off a historic, record-breaking 2023 season for the Tornados, who won the most single-season games in program history (11). Brevard shattered program records in team goals, assists, and points in a season along with a multitude of individual and single-game records. Moore set the single-game goal record (11) while setting single-season records for goals (71) and points (94). Kraemer and Hill set new program single-game records with 12 points each in separate contests, while Denaga broke her own single-season draw control program record with 152. Kneubuhler set a single-season record for caused turnovers as well with 42.
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-BC-