The University of Redlands women's lacrosse team returned to Farquhar Field on Wednesday night for a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) showdown against the visiting Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges. After facing an early deficit, the Bulldogs battled to pull within two but struggled to complete the comeback in a 6-14 loss.
The teams traded scores early in the contest, with junior attacker Kelsey Ruhl (Seattle, WA) firing one into the back of the net for the Bulldogs with 18:40 left in the opening half.
However, the Sagehens orchestrated a six-goal spurt to send the Bulldogs into the second half with a significant uphill climb.
Nonetheless, the Maroon and Gray came out of its halftime meeting with refreshed energy and determination. Senior midfielder Lacey Bjorndal (Sherwood, OR) hauled in the opening draw of the period and eventually earned the free-position shot, which she successfully buried.
After another Bjorndal draw control, the Bulldogs gained a sweet wrap-around goal from first-year attacker Paige Erlanger (Las Vegas, NV).
Sophomore midfielder Sadie Pickering (Tacoma, WA) kept things rolling when she snagged the subsequent draw control. Ruhl took advantage of the opportunity by converting her free-position shot to make it 4-7 less than three minutes into the second half.
Although the Sagehens regained possession on the ensuing draw control, senior goalkeeper Quinn Egan (Greenwood Village, CO) stepped up with a monster save to put the momentum back with the Bulldogs. Shortly after, senior defender Katie Koehler (Jackson, WY) caused an opponent turnover and snagged the resulting ground ball, which allowed the Bulldogs to switch fields and head back on offense. With 24:55 left on the clock, Erlanger made it a two-score game by converting yet another free-position shot.
Unfortunately, this was as close as Redlands would make it, as Pomona-Pitzer fired off seven-consecutive goals to put this one out of reach for the Bulldogs.
Egan supplied 14 saves in a valiant effort between the pipes, while Bjorndal snagged nine of her team's 10 draw controls.
Redlands (2-4) faces Albion College (MI) on Thursday, March 8, at 7 p.m. in a non-conference tilt on Farquhar Field.