U of R Women's Lacrosse Stumbles to No. 20 CMS Athenas

Kesley Ruhl looks to pass the ball
Photo credit: Mollie Craighead

The University of Redlands women's lacrosse team took to the road for the first time in six games and headed west to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Saturday for a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) contest against the No. 20 Athenas.  Unfortunately, the Bulldogs struggled to match the Athenas' offense and ultimately fell by a score of 6-15.

After a two-goal start for CMS, Redlands jumped on the board when sophomore attacker Sadie Pickering (Tacoma, WA) found junior midfielder Hanna Morford (West Linn, OR) for the score at the 27:10-mark to close the gap.

The Bulldogs kept things close, as the teams traded scores over the next 17 minutes, with senior midfielder Lacey Bjorndal (Sherwood, OR) converting a free-position goal and Morford finding the back of the net off an assist from junior attacker Kelsey Ruhl (Seattle, WA).

However, the Athenas put together a six-goal finish to the first half to pull away.

Redlands battled late by out-scoring CMS, 3-1 in the final 13 minutes but it was not enough to overcome the deficit.  First-year midfielder Kaley Holland (Seattle, WA) provided a goal and assist during this spurt.

Senior goalkeeper Quinn Egan (Greenwood Village, CO) provided 14 saves in the loss.

Overall, the Bulldogs dominated the draw-control battle with a 15-8 advantage.  Bjorndal hauled in nine and sophomore midfielder Chelsea Sahami (Millbrae, CA) snagged four.

Redlands (5-6, 2-3 SCIAC) returns home to Farquhar Field on Tuesday, March 27, for a 7 p.m. showdown against DePauw University (IN).