One day after a tough defeat, the University of Redlands women's lacrosse team bounced back with a resounding win over the visiting Vikings of Augustana College (IL) on Thursday. The Bulldogs rattled off seven unanswered goals to start the game en route to the impressive 18-6 triumph.
After forcing turnovers on the Vikings' first two possessions, junior midfielder Jacky Craycraft (Trabuco Canyon, CA) found freshman midfielder Stephanie Garrett (San Diego, CA) for the Bulldogs' opening goal of the game.
Moments later, a yellow card put the Vikings down a player, which set up an excellent opportunity for the Maroon and Gray. After the teams changed possession, junior attack player Allie Hoffler (Draper, UT) connected with Garrett for another Redlands score.
The Bulldogs continued to pressure offensively, forcing a bad clear on a stick check by Garrett. She picked up the ground ball and distributed it to senior midfielder Crystal Painter (Lake George, NY), who found junior midfielder KK McCaslin (Portland, OR) for the goal. This was the first Painter's six assists.
Following another McCaslin netter, senior midfielder Katie Colasurdo (Eugene, OR) broke up another clear attempt by Augustana to set up a scoring combination by Hoffler and senior attack player Aimee Dewan (Alamo, CA) for the Bulldogs' fifth goal of the game.
Dewan and Craycraft capped off the impressive offensive start for the Bulldogs, making it a 7-0 game with 8:57 left in the opening half.
A little over a minute later, freshman attack player Emily Handrahan (Hawthorne Woods, IL) got the Vikings on the scoreboard with her free-position shot.
However, Redlands poured on four more goals in the final 6:01 of the half, gaining the 10-goal advantage by the final tick of the clock. Painter distributed three of the scores, finding McCaslin twice and Craycraft once. Junior midfielder Claire Krueger (Seattle, WA) found the back of the net just before the buzzer as she successfully executed a free-position shot.
After the Vikings' sophomore attack player Christina Letmantski (Wheaton, IL) scored the first goal of the second stanza, the Bulldogs fired off five consecutive netters to take a commanding lead. During this stretch, sophomore attack player Maggie Lehr (Kirkland, WA) and freshman midfielder Samantha Keary (Mission Viejo, CA) both tallied scores for the Maroon and Gray.
Although Augustana stepped up with four additional netters in the game, the Bulldogs' lead was never in question as they kept up the 10-goal differential through the final whistle.
McCaslin posted a game-high five goals, while Dewan tallied four, and Craycraft and Garrett each recorded a hat trick. Painter served as the primary ball-distributor for the Bulldogs, tallying six assists, while Craycraft and Hoffler offered two apiece. Furthermore, sophomore midfielder Emily Dalrymple (Snohomish, WA) dished out one assist.
Redlands prevailed in the draw-control battle, earning a 14-10 margin. Craycraft and Colasurdo combined for nine of them.
Krueger led the Bulldogs with four ground balls.
Graduate student goalkeeper Ana Martinez (Pleasanton, CA) patrolled the Redlands cage for most of the game, making four saves, before giving way to freshman goalkeeper Isabella Baez (Zionsville, IN) in the final eight minutes.
The Vikings gained 12 saves from sophomore goalkeeper Sarah Osier (Naperville, IL).
Redlands (4-1) competes again on Sunday at 1 p.m. against the Athenas of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges. This match recently was moved from Saturday at 7 p.m. to Sunday at 1 p.m.
