The University of Redlands women's lacrosse equalized its only Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) loss of the season with a solid 17-10 victory over the visiting Tigers of Occidental College on Senior Night. After breaking an early tie to take the lead, the Bulldogs were forced to continually hold off a relentless Tiger squad, which kept the game close through the first 50 minutes. However, Redlands rattled off five unanswered goals to extend its advantage to seven goals by the final whistle.
Prior to the first draw, the Bulldogs honored seniors Aimee Dewan (Alamo, CA), Katie Colasurdo (Eugene, OR), Crystal Painter (Lake George, NY), and Ana Martinez (Pleasanton, CA) with a short pregame ceremony.
With deliberate execution of each possession, the teams knotted the score at two apiece with 18:55 remaining in the first half.
After receiving a blistering pass from junior midfielder Jacky Craycraft (Trabuco Canyon, CA), Dewan uncorked the first of her team-leading five goals to put Redlands ahead at 3-2.
Back-to-back combination plays from freshman midfielder Stephanie Garrett (San Diego, CA) to junior midfielder KK McCaslin (Portland, OR) quickly made it 5-2 for the Bulldogs, but Occidental responded with consecutive scores to pull within one with 5:03 to go in the frame.
However, junior attack player Allie Hoffler (Draper, UT) dished out a scoring pass to Craycraft for Redlands' 6-4 halftime lead.
The teams continued to trade punches through the opening minutes of the second stanza, but the Bulldogs maintained their lead throughout the tight competition.
By the 10:14-mark, junior midfielder Rebecca Beldin's netter for the Tigers made it a one-goal game for the sixth time, trailing 10-11.
On the subsequent draw, Occidental came up with the ball, but Bulldog freshman midfielder Samantha Keary (Mission Viejo, CA) provided a key stop on a blocked pass, halting the Tigers' effort to even the score.
Redlands unleashed an offensive explosion and continued with the big defense stops, resulting in five straight goals to finish up the contest with a 17-10 decision. Painter stepped up with a pair of goals, while Craycraft completed her hat trick with two late-game scores.
Hoffler and Garrett finished with four assists, accounting for eight of the Maroon and Gray's 10 on the night.
The Bulldogs gained netters from eight different players, with freshman midfielder Ellen Holt (Portland, OR) and junior midfielder Molly Eckert (Houston, TX) coming in off the bench to record a goal apiece.
Martinez patrolled the cage for all 60 minutes, earning nine saves in the process. She offered three big stops in the final nine minutes to help Redlands maintain its momentum.
Junior midfielder Tori Larson led the Tiger offense with five goals.
Although Occidental won the draw-control battle with an 18-11 margin, the Bulldogs caused seven opponent turnovers, with junior midfielder Allison Leipzig (Netwon, MA) leading the effort with two. Redlands also took advantage of their second-half, free-position opportunities by converting 5-of-6.
As the top seed, Redlands (13-4, 9-1 SCIAC) gains a first-round bye to the SCIAC Championship Tournament and looks forward to hosting a semifinal game on Sat., April 27, at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs' opponent will be the lowest remaining seed of the Nos. 3-6 and Nos. 4-5 game.
