The University of Redlands women's lacrosse team hosted the Occidental College Tigers in an intense Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) showdown during Senior Night at Farquhar Field on Saturday. After celebrating the careers of senior midfielder Emily Dalrymple (Snohomish, WA), senior defender Robin Taylor (Poway, CA), and senior attack Elizabeth Keilty (Yorba Linda, CA), the Bulldogs battled throughout the physical and competitive contest but faced a second-half deficit that proved to be too much, resulting in the 12-16 loss.
The Maroon and Gray initiated the scoring in the first 28 seconds of action when Dalrymple fired off her first goal of the game. She uncorked a shot that was saved by the Tiger goalkeeper but immediately grabbed the ground ball before dishing it into the back of the net for the score.
After the teams traded subsequent goals, the Tigers converted three-consecutive scores to take a 4-2 lead by the 19:09-mark of the opening frame.
Midway through the first stanza, freshman midfielder Lacey Bjorndal (Sherwood, OR) cut the Bulldogs' deficit to one by converting a sweet pass from junior midfielder Sam Keary (Mission Viejo, CA).
But Occidental managed to build a 6-3 lead with 11:13 remaining on the clock.
Not to be outdone, Redlands put together a 3-1 run over the next five minutes to make it a one-score game. During this spurt, freshman attack Katy Miele (Rumson, NJ), junior midfielder Stephanie Garrett (San Diego, CA), and freshman attack McKenna Tychsen (Park City, UT) found the back of the net, while sophomore midfielder Breanne Rideout (San Diego, CA) and sophomore attack Dulce Moll (Mercer Island, WA) supplied assists.
By the end of the half, Occidental held a slight 8-6 advantage in the foul-heavy period.
Redlands took advantage of a pair of free-position shots early in the second stanza, as Bjorndal and Moll both converted their opportunities to finally tie it up at eight apiece.
Unfortunately for the Maroon and Gray, the Tigers responded with six-straight goals to create just enough cushion for the eventual win.
However, the Bulldogs left it all on the field, scoring the next three goals to cut the lead to 11-14. All three scores came off of sweet assists, with Rideout providing two of them. In addition, Dalrymple, Tychsen, and Moll supplied the quality scores for Redlands.
Overall, Moll led the Maroon and Gray with three goals and two assists, while Garrett grabbed four draw controls and three ground balls to go along with two scores.
Junior defender Angelyn Brown (Danville, CA) stepped up defensively with two caused turnovers and two ground balls. Sophomore Gigja Hollyday (Aliso Viejo, CA) and freshman Quinn Egan (Glenwood Springs, CO) joined forces as the Bulldogs' last line of defense, combining for five saves in the loss. The duo orchestrated a nearly-perfect showing on clear attempts, going 11-for-12, as compared to Occidentals' 14-for-19 showing.
Redlands (8-6, 4-4 SCIAC) heads to Whittier College on Wednesday, April 15, for a 7 p.m. showdown with the Poets.