By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- Willamette University junior midfielder Maddie Garcia (Encinitas, CA/San Dieguito Academy) has been selected as the Northwest Conference Women's Lacrosse Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week for her contributions to road victories against Whitworth University on April 9 and Whitman College on April 10. The Bearcats defeated Whitworth 13-8 and downed Whitman 21-19 to improve their record to 10-3 on the season, 7-1 in the NWC.

Garcia scored a total of 10 goals during the week. She earned a hat trick with three goals versus Whitworth on Saturday and the tallied seven goals at Whitman on Sunday. Her seven goals against the Blues were the most by a Bearcat this season and tied her for second on Willamette's all-time single-game list. The school record for goals in a game is nine by Anabel Ohsman ('22) in a win over the University of Dallas on March 24, 2019.

"Maddie continued another very strong week on the attacking end for us," Willamette Head Women's Lacrosse Coach Sarah Lautenbach said. "She was a great threat with the ball and was able to consistently finish her shots. Every week she gets better, adding new fakes and dodges to her drives."

The 10 goals scored by Garcia last week were recorded on just 12 shots for a .833 shooting percentage. She was 3 of 4 on free-position shots. Garcia leads Willamette with 38 goals this season and has scored a school record 85 career goals in 27  games played.

Willamette will host NWC-leading George Fox University on Saturday, April 16 at Sparks Field. GFU is 12-0 overall and 7-0 in the NWC. Action between the Bearcats and the Bruins will begin at 1 p.m. (PDT).