STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point women's lacrosse team (0-6, 0-1) squared off in their first conference game of the season with the Southwestern Pirates (2-3, 1-0), scoring the most goals in program history in a closely contested defeat, 17-14.
 
The Pointers gave up a quick 4-0 run by the Pirates before snapping the scoreless run off a Marissa Van Dyke (Green Bay, Wis./Green Bay Southwest) free-position power-play goal. The Pointers managed to trade goals at the close of the first quarter of play as Katie Stanius (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) made her return to the goal column off a dish by Van Dyke, heading into the second down 5-2.
 
UWSP found some momentum to start the second as they entered a 2-0 run to bring them within one goal. Van Dyke scored both goals with Courtney Leising (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) picking up the assist on the latter. Both teams traded goals in the middle of the second to maintain a one-score Pirates lead as Leising added a free-position power-play goal. Leising scored another solo goal at the 4:58 mark of the quarter but UWSP went into halftime after being outscored 3-1 in the final minutes of the first half, down 9-6.
 
The Pirates came out of the half with a two-goal scoreless run but were silenced quickly by a 4-0 scoring barrage by the Pointers. In the run, Van Dyke scored twice, Leising scored to earn her second-career hat trick and Allison Talir (St. Louis, Mo./Pattonville Senior) continued her goal per game scoring streak to six with an emphatic goal which all brought the Pointers back to within one. Southwestern ripped off two goals to close the quarter as the Pointers remained in the backseat, 13-10.
 
Both units traded goals to start the fourth, as Van Dyke scored a solo goal through broken coverage and Paige Allen (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) earned her second-career goal with a power-play score off a pass from Leising. The Pointers would again trade two goals with the Pirates down the stretch, succumbing to a 17-14 loss.
 
Van Dyke earned a career-high nine points and seven goals with two assists. Leising earned a career-high eight points and 12 draw controls while tying her career goals scored in a game with four.
 
The trio of Alyssa Yokom (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown), Laina Berthiaume (South Haven, Minn./Hutchinson) and Leising earned a combined seven caused turnovers, three for Yokom and two each for Berthiaume and Leising.
 
Emily Griege (Chesterfield, Mo./Westminster Christian Academy) made the start in goal with a full 60 minutes of play and 14 saves. Griege earned a game-high five groundballs.
 
The Pointers remain home Monday (Apr. 8) to play their rescheduled bout with UW-River Falls in conference action. Opening draw is set for 5:00 p.m.