FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Lawrence Tech turned a shaky opening quarter into a runaway WHAC tournament semifinal victory Thursday night, defeating Indiana Tech 18-8 at Warrior Ath. Field in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The decisive stretch came in the second quarter, when the No. 3-seeded Blue Devils scored 10 unanswered goals to erase a 6-4 deficit and seize control on the way to the conference championship game against No. 1 seed Marian.
Indiana Tech, the tournament's No. 2 seed, carried a 6-4 lead out of the first quarter after answering Lawrence Tech's early 2-0 start. Jocelyn Vander Zwaag opened the scoring at 12:56 of the first quarter off an assist from Morgan Waligora, then added another goal less than 90 seconds later. But Indiana Tech surged back, and Vander Zwaag's free-position goal with 1:29 left in the quarter only trimmed the deficit to two.
The game changed quickly in the second. Bella Louwerse tied it at 6-6 with a man-up free-position goal at 10:16, igniting the Blue Devils' dominant quarter. Mari Pellmann put Lawrence Tech ahead 8-6 at 7:11, and the Blue Devils kept pressing with efficient finishing and possession control. By the time Alyson Walendzak scored a man-up goal with 10 seconds left before halftime, Lawrence Tech had built a 14-6 lead and completely flipped the match.
Lawrence Tech never let Indiana Tech back into it after the break. Audrey Durham scored a power-play goal at 7:43 of the third quarter to make it 15-6, and Louwerse added another at 4:56. In the fourth, Vander Zwaag pushed the lead to 17-6 before Louwerse finished off another man-up chance at 6:28, this time on an assist from Pellmann, for an 18-6 advantage. Indiana Tech scored the final two goals, but the outcome had long been decided.
Vander Zwaag and Louwerse led Lawrence Tech with five goals apiece. Vander Zwaag also added an assist, nine shots and four ground balls, while Louwerse finished with two assists and put all six of her shots on goal. Pellmann added four goals and three assists, and Walendzak scored three times. As a team, the Blue Devils totaled 38 shots, including 32 on goal, collected 23 ground balls and recorded 18 draw controls. Lawrence Tech also got three saves in 60 minutes in goal, while Indiana Tech was forced to absorb 14 saves from its goalkeeper under constant pressure.
The Blue Devils outscored Indiana Tech 4-6, 10-0, 2-0 and 2-2 by quarter after the difficult opening frame, holding the Warriors to 17 shots and forcing 21 turnovers. The result sends Lawrence Tech into the WHAC Conference tournament final, where the Blue Devils will face top-seeded Marian with a championship on the line.
