MARQUETTE, Mich. - Today the Calvin women's lacrosse team took its first loss of the season when it traveled up north to take on Division II opponent Northern Michigan University.
 
The Wildcats scored the first goal of the evening just three minutes into the game to take a 1-0 lead. Senior Audrey Booher (Fishers, Ind./Heritage Christian) had an answer less than two minutes later when she blew past the Northern Michigan defense and found the back of the net. 
 
Northern Michigan found a way to respond when it scored a man-down goal before senior Morgan Bethard (DeWitt, Mich./DeWitt) scored a man-up goal to once again even up the score. As the first period wound down, the Wildcats continued to put pressure on the Calvin defense as they closed out with two more goals to take a 4-2 lead.
 
The second period belonged to Northern Michigan as it overwhelmed the Knights and outscored Calvin 6-2 to head into halftime with a commanding 10-4 lead. 
 
In the second half, sophomore Delaney Johnson (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake) and senior Jacey Smith (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) each got in on the goal scoring action while Booher added four more to her total. However, the Wildcats continued to find ways to score on the other end of the field and the Knights eventually fell 20-10.
 
Booher finished with six goals and two caused turnovers while Bethard notched two goals and two ground balls. Smith and freshman Megan Gibbs (Perrysburg, Oh./Perrysburg) each recorded an assist while Gibbs also had a team high four draw controls. Sophomore Corinne Plumb (St. Louis, Mo./Westminster Christian Academy) forced two turnovers and freshman midfielder Courtney Putnam (South Lyon, Mich./South Lyon) finished the game with two caused turnovers and three draw controls. Junior goalkeeper finished the night with fourteen saves.
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will round out their trip up north tomorrow Saturday, February 14th when they take on Carthage at 12 PM.