The University of Redlands women's lacrosse team continued its Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) journey on Wednesday night by squaring off with the Occidental College Tigers in Eagle Rock. The Bulldogs overcame an early 2-4 deficit by rattling off six-straight goals to take a lead that they never relinquished en route to the 13-7 final tally.
After freshman midfielder Hanna Morford (West Linn, OR) and senior midfielder Stephanie Garrett (San Diego, CA) put up two Redlands goals to start the game, Occidental answered back with a four-score outburst over the next 13 minutes.
However, the Maroon and Gray responded with a scoring spurt of its own, as Garrett pulled in consecutive draw controls before finding the back of the net on her next two shots, with the first goal coming off an assist from junior attack player Dulce Moll (Mercer Island, WA).
Tied at four-all, the Bulldogs remained offensive, as Moll found freshman attack player Hayley Donnelly (Bellaire, TX) just 11 seconds later, before knocking in a goal of her own to make it 6-4 with 3:42 left on the first-half clock.
After sophomore midfielder Lacey Bjorndal (Sherwood, OR) uncorked a successful free-position shot, Morford bookended the stanza with her second goal of the game for Redlands' 8-4 lead at the halftime break.
Although the Tigers cut the deficit to two by the 25-minute mark of the second frame, the Bulldogs closed out the game with four unanswered scores to secure the 13-7 win. Beginning at 19:19, Moll impressed by scoring three-straight goals, with Garrett and junior midfielder Breanne Rideout (San Diego, CA) providing assists on two of them. Moll then offered the assist on her team's final goal of the game, which came off the stick of Donnelly with 1:46 left on the clock.
Redlands gained outstanding play from sophomore goalkeeper Quinn Egan (Greenwood Village, CO), as she patrolled the cage for nearly the entire contest and racked up 13 saves as a brick wall against the Oxy offense. Senior goalkeeper Izzy Baez (Zionsville, IN) stepped in for the end of the first and beginning of the second half, making two stops for the Bulldogs.
Moll provided incredible numbers with four goals on five shots, to go along with three assists and five ground balls. Garrett finished with four goals on four shots, one assist, and five draw controls. Senior midfielder Sam Keary (Mission Viejo, CA) added three ground balls, two draw controls, and two caused turnovers.
Redlands (1-1, 1-1 SCIAC) plays at home for the first time this season on Saturday, February 27, when it takes on the Whittier College Poets at 7 p.m. on Farquhar Field.
