It was a remarkable year for the Lindenwood athletic program in 2009-10. Over the next 10 weeks, www.lindenwoodlions.com will bring you the top 10 moments of the last school year.

The No. 4 moment comes from the women's lacrosse program and its last second win in the conference tournament championship.
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The Lindenwood Lady Lions lacrosse team had the most successful regular seasons in school history in 2010, collecting a 16-2 overall record and a 4-0 conference mark. Lindenwood, which was ranked second in the nation, would enter the WCLL Tournament as the favorite to repeat as conference champions.

The tournament started with the Lady Lions winning their first game against Toledo 13-6, and the next round 18-8 against the Michigan State Spartans.

Another of the tournaments favorites was the University of Michigan. The Wolverines also breezed through their opening game against Miami and then beat Pittsburgh to move on to the finals against Lindenwood.

The Lady Lions were coming into the championship game against the Wolverines winning their last 17 out of 18 games and had beaten Michigan earlier in the season. Though the two teams had only matched up one time during the regular season there was a little rivalry developing between the two.

“Heading into the game we knew this would be one of those battles where you throw your current overall record out the window,” head coach jack Cribbin said about his teams match-up against Michigan. “When we play the Wolverines it is usually a tightly contested battle. We have become rivals over the past few years, and we look forward to the competition.”

Highly competitive is exactly what the tournament final turned out to be. The first half of the game ended with both teams scoring four goals. The Wolverines never trailed in the first half but the Lady Lions would at least answer every goal.

After a highly contested opening half the second was much of the same. Like the first half the game was either tied or Michigan was in the lead but that did not discourage the Lady Lions.

“It is always our goal as a team to keep an even keel,” said Cribbin. “Not getting too high or low throughout the contest is what we strive for. We pride ourselves on playing a complete 60 minutes of team lacrosse. We feel if we accomplish that, the result will take care of itself.”

As the contest was winding down and all tied up the two teams looked destined for extra time. But with just 10 seconds to play in the game Lacey Vatland would get an opportunity and she took full advantage of it, burying the game winning goal to give the Lady Lions their second straight conference tournament crown.

Lindenwood did not hold its first lead until 59:50 of the 60 minute game. But when the Lady Lions finally took the lead they knew it was celebration time.

“When the goal went in, the bench erupted and everyone was excited,” Cribbin said. “The players deserve all the credit for preserving throughout the whole game. They never once gave up, and left their hearts on the field.”

Vatland scored the game's biggest goal and was the best player on the field that day. She scored five of Lindenwood's 10 goals. “Big time players, make big time plays, in big time games and that's exactly what Lacey did, and has been doing for her whole career,” Cribbin said.

Laura Boland and Kathryn St. George each pitched in with two goals and Justiene Groothuis added one.

Defensively, Christine Mearns made 12 saves in goal and Vatland, Groothuis, and Ashley Bruce all had three groundballs. Eleni Papadakos led the team in draws by winning 12-of-18.

The exciting win over the Wolverines gave the Lady Lions some confidence heading into the WDIA National Tournament.

“Playing a powerhouse program like Michigan can prepare you very well for the postseason,” Cribbin said. “We were thankful for the opportunity and it really set the tone for us in the national tournament.”

The momentum from the Michigan carried over the national tournament as the Lady Lions would win their first two games against Minnesota and BYU. The season would come to end though after the Lady Lions fell to Colorado and Colorado State.

When the season came to end the team compiled a record of 21-4 and a perfect conference mark of 4-0.

No. 5 Moment of the Year: Men's Basketball Scores Win Over No. 1 Team in the Country
No. 6 Moment of the Year: Lady Lion Table Tennis Wins First Ever National Championship
No. 7 Moment of the Year: Softball Scores a Huge Win Over MidAmerica Nazarene
No. 8 Moment of the Year: Baseball Wins a Wild One Against Central Methodist
No. 9 Moment of the Year: Women's Soccer Scores Upset of Ranked Team
No. 10 Moment of the Year: Women's Tennis Wins HAAC Championship