With an impressive second-half showing, the University of Redlands women's lacrosse team captured a 17-8 victory over the Chapman University Panthers in an important Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) match on Wednesday night in Orange. After trailing by one at the half, the Bulldogs erupted for 12 goals while holding the home team to just two scores in the final 30 minutes of action, resulting in the solid win.
The Panthers broke a three-all tie late in the first half by doubling its output over the next four minutes, forcing the Maroon and Gray to play catch-up.
Sophomore midfielder Stephanie Garrett (San Diego, CA) then fired off back-to-back scores to pull Redlands within one at the intermission. She accounted for all but one of the Bulldogs' first-half netters.
Head Coach Suzette Soboti's halftime speech must have worked, as her team came out with a score just 1:29 into the second stanza. Junior midfielder Emily Dalrymple (Snohomish, WA) supplied the tying goal after connecting with senior midfielder Jacky Craycraft (Trabuco Canyon, CA) on the assist.
Following a 10-minute offensive drought for both teams, senior attack player KK McCaslin (Portland, OR) found the back of the net on three occasions in less than four minutes for the Bulldogs. In addition, senior attack player Allie Hoffler (Draper, UT) provided a score and an assist, while Dalrymple dished out a pair of assists during this scoring outburst.
With a 10-6 advantage, the Bulldogs cruised to victory by unleashing seven goals in the final nine minutes of action. Craycraft, Garrett, and McCaslin scored two netters apiece, as sophomore attack player Shannon Sunnergren (Livermore, CA) capped off the team's impressive performance with the final goal, which came off of an assist by junior attack player Liz Keilty (Yorba Linda, CA).
Overall, McCaslin and Garrett joined forces for an impressive 12-goal explosion, while Hoffler finished the night with four assists and a score.
Senior defender Ally Leipzig (Newton, MA) solidified the backline for Redlands, racking up three caused turnovers.
With tonight's win and Occidental College's loss to Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, the Bulldogs move into sole possession of first place in the SCIAC standings. Redlands (11-3, 8-1 SCIAC) welcomes Pomona-Pitzer to Farquhar Field on Saturday at 7 p.m. for Senior Night. Fans may follow the action via live stats and video streaming at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/redlands.portal#.