The University of Redlands women's lacrosse team squared off against the Chapman University Panthers in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) showdown on Saturday night. Amidst a defensive struggle, the Bulldogs trailed early and struggled to recover en route to the tough 5-9 loss.
Early on, both teams fought to find their offensive rhythm as each faced impressive defensive pressure.
The Panthers managed to hold Redlands scoreless through the first half while taking a 4-0 lead in a low-scoring stanza.
During the second stanza, sophomore goalkeeper Gigja Hollyday (Aliso Viejo, CA) came up with a key save to give the ball back to the Bulldogs. After transitioning to the offensive third of the field, the Bulldogs looked to junior midfielder Stephanie Garrett (San Diego, CA) to end the Maroon and Gray's scoring drought with an unassisted goal at the 21:33-mark.
Although Chapman pulled in the subsequent draw control, junior midfielder Sam Keary (Mission Viejo, CA) successfully pressured the Panthers, resulting in one of her three caused turnovers on the night.
After the Bulldogs worked the ball around, freshman midfielder Lacey Bjorndal (Sherwood, OR) successfully found Garrett as she was cutting through the middle toward the goal. Garrett quickly buried the ball into the back of the net to make it a 2-4 game with just over 20 minutes to go.
But the Panthers answered with a 3-1 run to put the game out of reach for Redlands.
Garrett went on to notch her third netter of the game, while freshmen attack players Katy Miele (Rumson, NJ) and McKenna Tychsen (Park City, UT) provided one score apiece.
Hollyday and freshman goalkeeper Quinn Egan (Greenwood Village, CO) shared time between the pipes, amassing seven saves and converting all 13 clear attempts for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs (2-3, 2-2 SCIAC) take a three-game break from SCIAC competition, beginning on Wednesday, March 11, when they host Marymount University (VA) at 7 p.m. on Farquhar Field.