The University of Redlands women's lacrosse team battled it out with Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) competition on Saturday, edging the Sagehens in double overtime, 12-11. After recovering from two multi-goal deficits, the Bulldogs saw their late-game lead disappear with seven seconds left in the contest. However, sophomore midfielder Stephanie Garrett (San Diego, CA) came up with the game-winner early in the second overtime period, allowing the Maroon and Gray to snag the important triumph.
With the score tied at two apiece, the Sagehens fired off three unanswered goals to take a 5-2 lead with 13:15 left on the first-half clock.
However, the Bulldogs put together a successful clear that set up a goal by junior midfielder Emily Dalrymple (Snohomish, WA) off of an assist by senior attack player Allie Hoffler (Draper, UT) with 6:45 to go.
On the Sagehens' ensuing possession, senior midfielder Jacky Craycraft (Trabuco Canyon, CA) forced the turnover and took the ball downfield where she uncorked an unassisted netter less than 30 seconds later.
The teams traded scores through the end of the half, leaving the Sagehens out in front by a score of 6-5 at the break.
After Pomona-Pitzer opened the second stanza with two more goals to create an 8-5 advantage, the Maroon and Gray responded with back-to-back free-position goals by senior attack player/midfielder KK McCaslin (Portland, OR) and Craycraft, cutting the deficit to one with 21:41 to play in regulation.
Another Sagehen score inspired Redlands to unleash three consecutive goals for a 10-9 lead with 9:18 left on the clock. The first and third netters of this spurt resulted from Redlands' stifling defense, which led to a pair of Sagehen turnovers and successful clears by the Bulldogs. Garrett found room to hit the back of the net on the first two opportunities before sophomore attack player Shannon Sunnergren (Livermore, CA) connected on an assist from junior attack player Liz Keilty (Yorba Linda, CA) for her first goal of the season.
With continued defensive pressure, the Bulldogs held the opponents scoreless for nearly nine minutes but could not convert an insurance goal on the offensive end of the field.
However, with seven seconds to go, a foul led to a successful free-position shot by Pomona-Pitzer, tying the game at 10 and forcing the overtime.
During the first extra period, the teams once again traded scores, with Craycraft taking care of a pass from Hoffler to even the count at 11.
Now in sudden-victory overtime, it took only 35 seconds for Redlands to recover a missed shot that set up Garrett's game-winning goal.
Overall, the contest was very tight in many statistical categories, with both teams recording two successful free-position attempts, 15 turnovers, and 24 shots. However, the home team nabbed 16 draw controls to the Bulldogs' 11, but the Maroon and Gray gained nine saves from freshman goalkeeper Gigja Hollyday (Aliso Viejo, CA0, compared to five for the Pomona-Pitzer goalkeeper.
Garrett led Redlands with four goals and one assist, while Craycraft provided a hat trick of netters. Dalrymple was the only other Bulldog to notch more than one score.
Defensively, sophomore defender Angelyn Brown (Danville, CA) registered four caused turnovers and one ground ball, while junior defender Robin Taylor (Poway, CA) provided three opponent turnovers and one ground ball.
Redlands (4-2, 4-1 SCIAC) looks forward to its trip to Virginia and North Carolina over Spring Break, beginning with a 7 p.m. EST showdown with Guilford College (NC) on March 3.