Boiling Springs, N.C. – The Youngstown State women's lacrosse team used a strong second half to pull away from Gardner-Webb for a 16-8 victory, extending their winning streak to three games.
Katie Grottenthaler continued her offensive tear, scoring a career-high six goals to lead the way offensively for YSU. She has now had a hat trick in each of the last three games, scoring 13 goals over that stretch.
Claire Baenziger added three goals for the Penguins, while Lena Cox and Ava Kreutzer each scored two goals, and Ally Garrett, Brooke Peck, and Grace Rund each added a goal.
Tori Bustamante continued her very impressive start to the season defensively, causing a team-high four turnovers to go along with four ground balls, which tied a team high. Grottenthaler also controlled four ground ball recoveries.
Liz Amos was in the cage for the first 32 minutes, garnering five saves and allowing six goals, while Brooke Harper was played the final 27 minutes at goalkeeper, saving three shots and allowing just two goals.
The two teams traded goals for the entirety of the first quarter, as Gardner-Webb led 3-2 after the opening 15 minutes. Katie Grottenthaler started the Penguins scoring with 7:33 remaining in the opening quarter, and she was followed by Ally Garrett, who scored at the 3:52 mark of the first quarter.
Claire Baenziger started a 3-0 run for the Penguins to begin the second quarter as she tied the game at three with 14:25 remaining quarter, and was followed quickly by Grottenthaler's second goal with 13:12 remaining in the quarter to give YSU their first lead at 4-3, and then Baenziger scored once again with 10:22 remaining in the quarter to make the score 5-3 in favor of the Penguins. Emma Duchscherer of Gardner-Webb snapped the Runnin' Bulldogs scoring drought with a goal at the 9:28 marl of the second quarter to make the score 5-4, before Grottenthaler netted her third goal of the first half to make it 6-4 with 2:50 remaining in the quarter. That is where the score stood heading into halftime.
Gardner-Webb had a strong start coming out of the locker room, as they added two goals in a span of 35 seconds, the first coming from Emma Meyer with 12:39 remaining in the third quarter, and the second coming from Katie Westbrook at the 12:04 mark, to tie the score at six. YSU's offense then woke up in a big way, scoring the next seven goals across the rest of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth. Grace Rund gave the Penguins their lead back with 11:02 remaining in the third quarter, and she was then followed by two goals from Grottenthaler at the 7:52 and 7:04 marks of the period, and then Lena Cox scored two goals of her own, coming with 3:27 and 2:49 remaining in the quarter, to give the Penguins an 11-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The 7-0 run was capped off with a goal from Grottenthaler with 10:44 remaining in the fourth quarter, and Ava Kreutzer's goal at the 8:55 mark, giving the Penguins a seven-goal advantage at 13-6. Summer Carpenter snapped Gardner-Webb's scoring drought of just under 17 minutes with 5:12 remaining in the game, but the Penguins answered with two goals, the first from Brooke Peck with 2:21 remaining, and the second from Baenziger, her third, with 1:32 on the clock. GWU scored just 17 seconds later to make the score 15-8, but YSU got the last goal of the game, coming from Kreuzter, her second, with just 20 seconds remaining on the clock, giving YSU a 16-8 victory at Spangler Stadium.
This marks YSU's first three-game winning streak on the road and overall, since Apr. 9-Apr. 30, 2022, when the Penguins strung off four-straight wins to end the regular season, helping them win a share of the Mid-American Conference Regular Season Championship.
The Penguins will wrap up their road trip on Saturday with a matchup against a Big South opponent for the third-straight game, this time traveling to Virginia to face Radford. The opening draw is scheduled for 12 p.m.
For news and updates throughout the 2025 women's lacrosse season, follow @YSUwlax on X .
