The University of Redlands women's lacrosse team returned home to the familiar surroundings at Farquhar Field for its 2014 home opener on Saturday and cruised to a 16-9 victory over Chapman University. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 7-1 lead and never looked back en route to the solid Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) triumph.
Freshman attack player Dulce Moll (Mercer Island, WA) initiated the Maroon and Gray's scoring with an unassisted goal less than a minute into the game. Fifty seconds later she set up senior attack player/midfielder KK McCaslin (Portland, OR) for the Bulldogs' 2-0 lead.
After Chapman found the back of the net, Redlands' prolific scoring attack answered with five consecutive goals, highlighted by two from Moll. She went on to fire off five goals and four assists for nine points, which places her in a tie for third all-time in program history for a single game.
The teams then traded goals through the end of the first frame, with the Bulldogs leading by a score of 9-3 at the break.
McCaslin provided a solid start to the second stanza by causing Chapman to turn over the ball and then recovering possession for the Maroon and Gray. Forty seconds later, Mull found McCaslin for the first score of the period.
Although Chapman eventually cut the deficit to five with 24:36 left in the second half, Redlands continued to excel, with Moll and junior midfielder Jacky Craycraft (Trabuco Canyon, CA) combining for three goals in one-minute span to make it 14-6.
Late in the game, Redlands was held scoreless for nearly nine minutes, but sophomore midfielder Stephanie Garrett (San Diego, CA) ended that drought by unleashing her third goal of the game, with this one coming off of her own draw control.
In addition to Moll's impressive offensive night, McCaslin provided four goals to go along with three ground balls, two draw controls, and two caused turnovers. Craycraft added two scores, two assists, three ground balls, three draw controls, and one caused turnover.
Defensively, the Bulldogs impressed with 14 caused turnovers as team, highlighted by senior defender Ally Leipzig (Newton, MA) with four. She also led all players with six ground balls.
Sophomore goalkeeper Izzy Baez (Zionsville, IN) and freshman goalkeeper Gigja Hollyday (Aliso Viejo, CA) split time in the cage, with Baez notching three saves for the win. The duo helped to orchestrate a solid 13-for-17 showing on clears by successfully distributing the ball out of the defensive third of the field.
Redlands (2-1, 2-1 SCIAC) takes on Whittier College in a SCIAC clash on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m. on Farquhar Field.
