GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Griffon Lacrosse (3-1) closed out its Colorado road swing in dominant fashion Tuesday afternoon, rolling past Fort Lewis by a final score of 16-5.

Brooke Tjernlund opened the scoring at the 14:44 mark off an assist from Jessica Brook to give MWSU an early 1-0 lead. Clare Sondral followed just 35 seconds later with an unassisted goal to push the advantage to 2-0. After Fort Lewis got on the board, Maddie Chidester responded with back-to-back goals, including one assisted by Brook, helping the Griffons build a 4-2 cushion late in the first quarter.

MWSU continued to apply pressure in the second quarter. Brinley Willenbrock found the net off a feed from Chidester, and Tjernlund added her second goal of the game to extend the lead. Maleah Sosa and Sondral each tallied second-quarter scores as well, stretching the margin to 8-2 before the Skyhawks added a late goal to make it 8-3 at the break.

Chidester opened the third-quarter scoring at the 11:14 mark off an assist from Brinley Willenbrock to extend the lead to 9-3. Tjernlund followed less than a minute later, finishing a feed from Chidester to make it 10-3. Caetryn Gilreath added an unassisted goal midway through the quarter, and Ryann Durrett capitalized on a man-up opportunity to push the advantage to 12-3. Olivia Fornelli capped the third with an unassisted score, giving MWSU a commanding 13-3 lead heading into the final frame.

Fort Lewis found the net early in the fourth quarter, but the Griffons answered quickly. Durrett recorded her second goal of the afternoon, Gilreath added another, and Chidester netted her fourth goal of the game off an assist from Maleah Sosa to stretch the lead to 16-4. The Skyhawks added a late man-up goal, but MWSU's defense held firm down the stretch to close out the 16-5 win.

What's Next
Griffon Lacrosse returns home Sunday, March 1 for its home opener at 1 p.m. against Concordia-St. Paul at Spratt Memorial Stadium.