FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The Methodist women's lacrosse team earned a 21-11 victory against LaGrange in USA South action at Monarch Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Monarchs (8-7, 7-2 USA South) finish conference play and clinch the No. 3 seed in the USA South Women's Lacrosse Tournament. Meanwhile, the Panthers end their regular season at 6-10 overall and 3-6 in league play.
 
Madison Ronelli opened the scoring just over a minute into the contest before Sarah Ewin recorded consecutive goals with assists by Monti Hendrix and Caitlyn Shea, 3-0. Hendrix added a goal of her own at the 24:34 mark to put the Monarchs up 4-0. LaGrange ended MU's scoring run with a score by Rachael Thomas at the 23:25 mark, but Ronelli added two more goals as the Monarchs held a 6-1 lead.
 
With 16:27 left in the first half, Thomas tallied her second score of the day with an assist by Madeline LaCavera to make it a four-goal game (6-2). MU responded with four goals in two and a half minutes, including a pair by Lindsay Brennan, to put the Monarchs up 10-2 with 11:23 showing on the clock. The two sides exchanged goals before two goals with under two minutes in the half gave the Monarchs a 13-5 lead at halftime.
 
After the recess, Thomas and LaCavera each scored to cut the lead to six goals, 13-7. Hendrix scored with a feed from Ronelli before back-to-back goals by the Panthers set the score to 14-9 with 22:00 remaining in regulation. Ewin and Brennan added goals three minutes apart with 16:01 remaining before outscoring LC 5-2 over the last seven minutes to secure the 21-11 victory.
 
Ronelli finished with nine points on six goals and three assists. She now sits at 64 goals on the year, which is one shy of tying the program record for goals in a single-season. She also had four draw controls and caused a pair of turnovers. Hendrix ended the day with three goals, four assists, seven ground balls and three draw controls, while Ewin scored five times and had nine draw controls to go with three ground balls. Brennan had three goals, while Emily Brennen had two. Kaelyn Holland and Sydney Bonner also scored.
 
For the Panthers, LaCavera scored four goals and added an assist, while Davida White and Thomas each had three goals and an assist. Eva Tallent led the way with eight draw controls, while White and LaCaverea each had five ground balls.
 
Molly O'Hara made 13 saves in all 60 minutes, while Dominique Desautels stopped nine shots in the loss.
 
Methodist held a 24-20 advantage in ground balls, while also holding a 17-16 edge in draw controls.The Monarchs outshot the Panthers 35-29.
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