The fourth-seeded University of Redlands women's lacrosse team welcomed the fifth-seeded Athenas of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges to Farquhar Field on Wednesday night for the opening round of the 2015 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship Tournament. While never trailing in the contest, the Bulldogs knocked off the familiar foes for the third time this season, using eight different goals-scorers in tonight's 13-7 victory.
Redlands initiated the scoring less than five minutes into the action, beginning with freshman attack Katy Miele (Rumson, NJ) as the first of three players to successfully bury a free-position shot.
Although CMS cut the deficit to one, the Bulldogs finished out the opening half with a 4-1 run for a comfortable 7-3 lead at the break. Redlands showcased its balanced attack during this spurt, as senior midfielder Emily Dalrymple (Snohomish, WA), junior midfielder Sam Keary (Mission Viejo, CA), sophomore midfielder Breanne Rideout (San Diego, CA), and sophomore midfielder Ellen Holt (Happy Valley, OR) each fired one past the Athena goalkeeper.
Early in the second half, senior attack Elizabeth Keilty (Yorba Linda, CA) caused an Athena turnover and pulled in the subsequent ground ball, which set up Redlands' eventual game-winning goal. Junior midfielder Stephanie Garrett (San Diego, CA) added to the Bulldogs' offensive diversity with her netter at the 27:50-mark, putting the home team up by a five-goal spread that it maintained through the remainder of the contest.
Among the Bulldogs' final five scores, sophomore attacker Dulce Moll (Mercer Island, WA) and freshman midfielder Lacey Bjorndal (Sherwood, OR) uncorked two apiece to each finish the game with a hat trick.
Sophomore goalkeeper Gigja Hollyday (Aliso Viejo, CA) and freshman goalkeeper Quinn Egan (Greenwood Village, CO) once again shared time between the pipes, as each notched two saves in the win.
The Bulldogs dominated the draw-control battle with a 13-8 advantage, as Garrett and Bjorndal accounted for nine. In addition, Redlands raked in 31 ground balls, as compared to CMS' 21, with senior defender Robin Taylor (Poway, CA) and Bjorndal grabbing five apiece.
During Redlands' stellar showing, Head Coach Suzette Soboti utilized 21 different players.
Redlands (10-7, 6-5 SCIAC) heads to Claremont on Saturday, April 25, for a 7 p.m. match-up against the top-seeded Pomona-Pitzer Colleges Sagehens.