The University of Redlands women's lacrosse team wrapped up a busy week of competition with an exciting 16-10 non-conference victory over the visiting Loggers of the University of Puget Sound (WA) on Saturday night.
The Bulldogs rattled off eight unanswered goals to start the game and never looked back but were forced to stave off a late push by UPS in order to secure their sixth victory of the season.
During the first 12 minutes, Redlands controlled the pace of play as freshman attack player Aimee Dewan (Alamo, CA) posted four goals for the Maroon and Gray. In addition, sophomore attack player Ashley Finke (Austin, TX) and junior midfielder Christy Smith (St. Louis Park, MN) both scored twice during this offensive explosion, which resulted in an 8-0 advantage with 12:17 remaining in the first half.
However, Puget Sound's Sofia Lama found the back of the net on back-to-back scores during the next three minutes. But Dewan rattled off her fifth goal of the game to give Redlands a 9-2 lead at the break.
The second half saw a much different side of the opponent as the Loggers clawed their way back into the game, forcing the Bulldogs to adjust their tactics to hold onto the win.
After a Redlands score by senior midfielder Haley Kern (Portland, OR), both teams rattled off consecutive goals to finish out the game. First it was UPS to pull within six, but then the Bulldogs responded by converting two free-position shots to make it 12-4.
Nonetheless, the Loggers fought back with an impressive four-goal run to cut the lead to four at 12-8.
Feeling the pressure of the oncoming Puget Sound squad, Redlands took care of the ball and scored three times in six minutes. Kern posted two goals and senior attack player Diana Frey (Silver Spring, MD) provided the assist on sophomore attack player Kali Wilgus' (Portland, OR) well-timed goal.
The Loggers took advantage of two free-position shots within the final 1:27 to make it a five-goal game but sophomore midfielder Ericka Bush (West Linn, OR) provided another score for the Bulldogs, which led to the 16-10 final tally.
Sophomore goalkeeper Ana Martinez (Pleasanton, CA) patrolled the net for Redlands, making seven saves in 60 minutes of action.
Redlands (6-3, 1-0 SCIAC) returns to Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action on Wednesday with a 7 p.m. showdown against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Farquhar Field.