The UW-Eau Claire women’s lacrosse team was victorious in two matches this past week. 

The Blugolds first faced UW-Stevens Point on April 15, winning 18-4. The first quarter ended 8-1, and the second opened with five consecutive goals, ending 13-1. 

The Pointers scored the rest of their goals in the third quarter, bringing the score to 15-4. The Blugolds scored the rest of the goals, ending with the score 18-4. 

The next match was against Augsburg University on April 18 with a score of 26-2. In this match, Augsburg was only able to score one point each in the first and second quarters, while the Blugolds dominated for the rest of the match. 

After competing against UW-Stevens Point and Augsburg, the Blugolds have a win streak against the two teams, having won the past three matches against UW-Stevens Point and the past five against Augsburg. 

In the two matches, midfielder and defender Jess Stiller scored nine goals-six in the first and three in the second. 

Stiller said the team sent out freshmen at the beginning of the second game. 

“We’re definitely trying to promote the confidence of it doesn’t matter if you’re a freshman or not; you can take it,” Stiller said. 

First-year Brynn Larson scored her first goal that game. 

One of the team captains, third-year attacker Ellie Fisher, also did well in the team’s first match, scoring four goals. Fisher said after playing in high school, she took off from lacrosse her first year of college before realizing her passion for it.

“I’m really glad that I found my way back to lacrosse, because it has really shaped my college journey, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Fisher said. 

Fisher said she credits the team’s success to their trust, support, good vibes and teamwork. 

“We have a term on our team called ‘the amoeba’,” Fisher said. “The amoeba basically means that we play together in one unit.” 

These recent victories came after a 3-18 defeat against UW-River Falls on April 8, which Stiller said was good to have with the match against UW-Lacrosse coming up. 

Stiller said the recent matches were a good place to work on skills after playing against a more competitive team like UW-River Falls. According to Fisher, it was a learning experience. 

“We haven’t experienced a game like that in a while,” Fisher said. “We can use those mistakes and learn from them and truly apply it for our upcoming games.” 

In general, when it comes to playing lacrosse, Stiller said she’s less concerned with winning and more concerned with performance, using the team’s game against Hamline University on March 25 as an example. 

“We won, and it was a good game, and they’re a good team, but probably almost a whole half of that game we weren’t playing how we should have,” Stiller said. 

Fisher said the opportunity for the freshmen in the match versus Augsburg led to her being on the sidelines most of the game, but she was happy to support them and see them display their skills. 

Stiller said she feels the team captains, Capri Meyer, Paige Kiani, Reegan Werner and Fisher, have done a great job this year. 

“I love all of our captains every year as people,” Stiller said. “But this is the first year I’ve really felt a pretty strong impact from having captains in the support they have for us.” 

Fisher said she tries to provide support and positivity for the team and praised the other captains as well.

The Blugolds will face off against UW-La Crosse on April 22 and Colorado College on April 25 before competing in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships on April 29. 

Fisher said the team’s plan for these games is to work hard and study the teams’ tactics. 

“I think we’re just really ready to step onto the field, bring it our all and hopefully come back with some wins,” Fisher said.

Curtin can be reached at [email protected].