The Crusaders' lacrosse team looked very good for the better part of 30 minutes in their game against the Wakefield Wolverines.

Then, Lauren Koonce turned a 15-2 deficit to six as the Wolverines closed the gap but fell short, 15-9.

Koonce had a game-high six goals, four coming in her team's 7-0 run to end the game.

"[Koonce] is an excellent player," said Cardinal Gibbons coach Prudence Lyon. "She's great, and we knew she was going to be a competitor."

Though her team was held scoreless for the final 19 minutes of the game, Lyon isn't too concerned about how her team finished the match.

"We weren't too concerned with scoring the most goals; we were using this to work on our plays, on our game and on our strategy."

The Crusaders (8-1, 6-0) maintained their lead in the Conference 3 standings, as the race for first remains competitive. Athens Drive is a game back, followed by Wakefield.

In what was a blowout early, the Crusaders took an 11-1 lead into halftime. Lane Huger made a spin move to shake her defender and scored top shelf just a minute into the game. Maggie Mueller and Claire Nelson added two more quick goals as eight different Crusaders scored.

Wakefield (3-4, 3-3) looked rattled as Gibbons' offense continued to score with ease. Off the face-off to begin the second half, Shelby Scanlin scored in only 10 seconds, as she led the Crusaders with four goals.

Koonce scored a minute after Scanlin, but Gibbons reeled off three straight goals.

Lyon made an emphasis for her team to play smart and grow as a team as her Crusaders held off a late rally by Wakefield.

She was at ease. Not because of a dominating performance or a 13-goal advantage at one point.

She wasn't concerned at all that Koonce picked apart her defense or that the momentum her team controlled was slowly slipping. She was able to get the most out of her kids, and her hopes of continuing that trend to a conference championship are still in reach.

"We make sure to play everybody. I'm not too concerned with drilling it home and scoring the most goals," Lyon said.

"I just want to make sure they play their best, learn the game and see the field."