Salem, Ore. - Willamette Lacrosse opened the conference season with a win by defeating Lewis & Clark College 16-8 at Sparks Field on Tuesday.  Lily Bachiochi tied the school record for points in a match by contributing five goals and six assists for the Bearcats, while Shea Richardson-Pepper and Claire Kisielnicki each scored four goals.

The Pioneers opened the scoring just over two minutes into the first quarter to take a 1-0 lead, but Willamette responded on the very next possession and tied the score 1-1 on a goal by Catie Mohr off the first assist of the day by Bachiochi.  Richardson-Pepper followed that up with an unassisted goal just a few minutes later, and Kisielnicki closed out the scoring in the first quarter with a goal at the 3:58 mark off an assist from Richardson-Pepper.

Willamette continued their run in the second quarter as Richardson-Pepper and Kisielnicki each scored again to make the margin 5-1 after five unanswered goals by the Bearcats.  Lewis & Clark was able to get back on the scoreboard midway through the quarter and the halftime whistle saw Willamette with a 6-3 lead.

The third quarter saw each team score two goals to keep Willamette's lead at three as the teams headed to the final quarter of play.  Bachiochi and Kisielnicki provided the goals in the third as Bachiochi was just getting started on a scoring run.

Bachiochi scored the opening two goals of the fourth quarter for Willamette and then assisted on a Richardson-Pepper goal to make the score 11-5.  After a Pioneer score cut the lead to 11-6, Bachiochi had consecutive assists on goals by Richardson-Pepper and Sophie Cendejas.  For the quarter, Bachichi had three goals and four assists on eight goals for Willamette.

Olivia Austin played the full sixty minutes in goal for Willamette and made ten saves.  Richardson-Pepper picked up six ground balls to lead the Bearcats, followed by Jay Shiflett with five.  Shiflett also caused six Pioneer turnovers to lead the team.

The Bearcats continue Northwest Conference play this weekend when they travel to Tacoma, Washington, to face off against Pacific Lutheran University on Saturday, April 5th, and the University of Puget Sound on Sunday, April 6th.  Both games are scheduled to start at 1:00 pm.