Matthew Hancock, Staff Writer

-The Lynchburg College Women’s Lacrosse team faced off against Randolph College in an ODAC matchup on April 18 and won 19-2 behind four goals from junior Kendall Adkin, attack, and three from sophomore Bri Slate, midfielder.

The Hornets got on the board first, scoring the first four goals of the game. The Wildcats scored a goal at 21:05 in the first half, narrowing the lead to 4-1, but LC answered again with four more goals. The Hornets went into halftime with a commanding 9-2 lead behind three goals by Adkin and two each by senior Lesley Buckingham, attack, and Slate.

LC did not look back in the second half, scoring all 10 goals of the period, pushing the final score to 19-2. Adkin led the team in scoring with four goals and Slate led in assists with two. Slate also fired in three goals total, while Buckingham, first-year Margot Holland, attack, junior Julie Will, midfielder, and junior Sarah Shannon, midfielder, each tallied two goals. Goalkeepers, first-year Hailey Bossert and senior Christina Tran played 30 minutes each and recorded six saves total.

Head Coach Bruce Reid said he was pleased with the way his team performed and saw the game as a chance to get younger players some playing time.

“Overall, I’m excited that we had an opportunity to get another conference win, and I think what we are trying to do as a team is to work on things like our defensive and offensive schemes and I think we got a chance to do that today. It was also a great opportunity to have a lot of our younger players to get some game experience,” Reid said.

Reid also said he was happy about the way Adkin and Slate performed, and is excited about Slate’s future with the team.

“I think that both of these ladies are having a strong season. Kendall [Adkin] is in her junior year right now and I think that she is one of the leaders on our offense. Bri [Slate] is a sophomore and I am pretty excited with what she is doing. She is very athletic and a lot of her strength is going to goal in open transition. Both of these ladies are very exciting to watch play,” Reid said.

Will said she thought that she and her teammates executed their game plan well.
“I think that we played a solid game all around on offense and defense and I thought I did a good job in helping the defense out, helping get the ball around on offense and running the different plays,” Will said.

Buckingham, in the team’s next game on April 20, scored six goals and recorded five assists, breaking school records for the most points in a career and the most goals in a career, according to the LC athletics webpage.

Senior Kat Miller, defender, said that she was thrilled with Buckingham’s play all year and will miss her leadership on and off the field.

“Lesley [Buckingham] is one of my good friends and we played all four years together, so I think she means a lot to me as a support system. On the field, she sees everyone and knows how to get the job done and moves the ball around well and is a good leader and communicator for us,” Miller said.
Reid also said that Buckingham has meant a lot to his team and that he is not looking forward to seeing her leave.

“It’s kind of fun, but sad to see a journey come as far as it has. Lesley has been an impact player since her sophomore year. I think the thing that I’m excited to watch her this year is that she’s moving the ball to more of her teammates. It’s going to be a great thing for her to see this thing wind down and we’re hoping that we’re going to end up with a championship,” Reid said.
The Hornets defeated Sweet Briar College, 21-8, in their last game of the regular season on April 20.

LC finished off the regular season with an overall record of 10-6 and a 7-2 record in the ODAC, capturing the third seed in the ODAC Tournament. The hornets will start the quarterfinals of the tournament against sixth seeded Randolph-Macon College on April 2 on Shellenberger Field at 4p.m.