The University of Redlands women's lacrosse team dropped a heartbreaker to Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Tuesday night in Claremont, falling to the Sagehens by a score of 16-17 in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) match.
The Bulldogs overcame a four-goal deficit in the first half to take an 11-9 lead at the break, but the Sagehens' persistence paid off in the final nine minutes as they rattled off five consecutive scores en route to the 17-16 decision.
The Maroon and Gray garnered an early 2-0 advantage with sophomore attack player Blair Callaghan (Tacoma, WA) finding sophomore midfielder Erika Bush (West Linn, OR) for the first goal of the game, followed by sophomore attack player Ashley Finke's (Austin, TX) first of two scores.
However, Pomona-Pitzer quickly answered with back-to-back goals to tie it up with nearly 25 minutes remaining in the first half.
Redlands responded with consecutive scores of its own to take a 4-2 lead but the Sagehens came storming back with six unanswered goals to put them up by four with 15:20 left on the clock.
Nonetheless, the Bulldogs answered again by rattling off six straight goals to take a 10-8 lead with less than seven minutes before the break. During this span, five different Bulldogs found the back of the net, with junior midfielder Christy Smith (St. Louis Park, MN) recording two goals.
The teams traded goals once again before halftime, making it an 11-9 game in favor of Redlands.
During the second period, the Sagehens quickly tied it up at 12 apiece, scoring three goals to the Bulldogs' one in the opening four-and-a-half minutes.
But sophomore midfielder Megan Prickett (Poway, CA) and freshman midfielder Katie Colasurdo (Eugene, OR) combined for three goals during the next 12 minutes to give Redlands a 15-12 lead.
However, this ignited an offensive explosion by Pomona-Pitzer, as it posted five consecutive scores in the closing nine minutes to secure a 17-15 advantage.
Prickett supplied one last effort in the final minute with a free-position goal, but this was all that the Bulldogs could muster.
Sophomore goalkeeper Ana Martinez (Pleasanton, CA) made 13 saves but suffered the loss between the pipes.
Prickett and Colasurdo each contributed three goals, while Smith and Finke added two apiece. Pricket also tallied six draw controls for the Bulldogs.
With the loss, Redlands (9-6, 4-3 SCIAC) slips into a tie for second place in the SCIAC standings with Whittier College. These two teams battle it out in Sunday's 1 p.m. game at Whittier. After that game, the Bulldogs look forward to competing in the inaugural SCIAC Championship Tournament, which begins on Friday and is hosted by Whittier.