The University of Redlands women's lacrosse squad took to the field for the season-opener in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action on Saturday night against the Chapman University Panthers. Despite firing off six goals in the second half, the Bulldogs' one-score first hindered a late-game comeback attempt en route to a 7-9 defeat.

Freshman midfielder Hanna Morford (West Linn, OR) netted the lone score for the Bulldogs in the first half with less than five minutes remaining to make it a two-goal game at 1-3.

However, Chapman fired off another score to end the half up by a score of 4-1.

Following a productive halftime, the Bulldogs began to fight towards a comeback. Junior attack player Dulce Moll (Mercer Island, WA) fired home a score to keep the deficit at three. Junior midfielder Breanne Rideout (San Diego, CA) found sophomore midfielder Lacey Bjorndal (Sherwood, OR) for another goal at the 15-minute mark to bring the score to 3-6.

Bjorndal and Moll continued to impress in the latter minutes of the contest, as they each fired home two scores to bring the Bulldogs within two of the lead.

Unfortunately, Redlands was unable to make up any more ground en route to the 7-9 defeat.

Overall, Bjorndal and Moll led the way on the scoring front with three goals each.

Sophomore goalkeeper Quinn Egan (Greenwood Village, CO) hauled in 10 saves in 60 minutes of action but suffered the loss.

Senior midfielder Stephanie Garrett (San Diego, CA) scooped up five ground balls and recorded two draw controls, while Morford also notched four draw controls.

The Bulldogs (0-1) face off against the Occidental College Tigers in conference action on Wednesday, February 24, at 7 p.m. in Eagle Rock.