The University of Redlands women's lacrosse team picked up right where it left off during its 2013 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship run by knocking off rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in a solid 17-9 victory earlier today. The Bulldogs erupted for a 14-2 advantage through the first stanza, quickly made it 16-2 early in the second frame, before cruising to the season-opening triumph.
Freshman attack player Dulce Moll (Mercer Island, WA) successfully converted a free-position shot for the team's first score of the game and the inaugural goal of her young Bulldog career.
Less than three minutes later, senior All-American Jacky Craycraft (Trabuco Canyon, CA) made it a three-goal advantage for Redlands with consecutive scores, the first of which came off of an assist by single-season, school-record-holder senior attack player Allie Hoffler (Draper, UT).
With freshman goalkeeper Gigja Hollyday (Aliso Viejo, CA) patrolling the Redlands cage, the Maroon and Gray held the opponents scoreless for nearly 10 minutes.
After CMS pulled one back, the Bulldogs continued to erupt offensively while shutting down any opportunities for the Athenas. Craycraft and sophomore midfielder Stephanie Garrett (San Diego, CA), last year's SCIAC Newcomer of the Year, fired off back-to-back scores for the Maroon and Gray.
Following the opponents' second and final goal of the first half, Redlands uncorked nine scores in the final 14:37 of the period to create a substantial lead that was never in question. During this outburst, sophomore midfielder Ellen Holt (Happy Valley, OR, Hoffler, and senior midfielder/attack player KK McCaslin (Portland, OR) joined the scoring frenzy for the Bulldogs.
Hollyday continued to shine through the first 41:55 of the game, making three saves and giving up only three goals. She gave way to sophomore goalkeeper Izzy Baez (Zionsville, IN), who notched the first six saves of her career after growing under the tutelage of former Bulldog standout Ana Martinez last season.
In addition to her game-high six goals, Craycraft reset the school record for career draw controls with 207 after pulling in five against the Athenas. She accomplishes this feat just one game into her senior campaign by surpassing former teammate Christy Smith '11.
Garrett and Moll each provided a hat trick, while Hoffler notched four assists and one goal in a stellar showing.
Christina Coffin scored three goals for the Athenas and Cara Cancelmo pulled in nine draw controls.
Redlands (1-0, 1-0 SCIAC) heads to Occidental College on Wed., Feb. 12, for a 7 p.m. match-up with the Tigers.