The University of Redlands women's lacrosse continued to roll through its non-conference schedule on Monday night by taking down the Tigers of DePauw University (IN) in an 18-8 thrashing on Farquhar Field. With their offense clicking on all cylinders, the Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead and never looked back en route to the solid victory.
With four different goal-scorers, the Maroon and Gray grabbed an early advantage by the 23:10-mark of the first half. Senior midfielder Stephanie Garrett (San Diego, CA) provided a goal and an assist on this early outburst.
Although DePauw responded with a 3-1 run to make it a two-score game, the Bulldogs settled into a nice offensive rhythm that started with possession at nearly every draw. Redlands fired off consecutive, highlight-reel goals on sweet passes to make it 7-3 with 8:56 remaining. Junior attack player Dulce Moll (Mercer Island, WA) found senior midfielder Ellen Holt (Happy Valley, OR), before freshman attack player Hayley Donnelly (Bellaire, TX) distributed the assist to senior midfielder Sam Keary (Mission Viejo, CA).
After senior goalkeeper Izzy Baez (Zionsville, IN) came up with a pair of big saves, the Bulldogs went coast-to-coast to earn a free-position attempt, which sophomore midfielder Lacey Bjorndal (Sherwood, OR) promptly buried in the back of the net to make it 8-3 with a little less than six minutes left on the first-half clock.
Redlands kept pushing to extend its lead, as Garrett snagged the draw control and flew by the Tiger defense for an unassisted goal. About 40 seconds later, Donnelly dished out her second assist of the game, as Bjorndal's score gave the Maroon and Gray a 10-3 lead.
Although DePauw fired off two late goals, Redlands entered halftime with a 10-5 advantage.
Baez finished out her half as the last line of defense with four saves and eventually garnered the win after making the start.
During the second half, the Tigers stepped up to cut the deficit to four on two occasions, but the Bulldogs quickly answered with three goals in a matter of 64 seconds. Garrett converted a free-position shot, while freshman midfielder Hanna Morford (West Linn, OR) and Holt uncorked scores.
This inspired what became a 7-1 run to finish out the game with the victory well in hand. Among the late-game highlights, Keary and Bjorndal each capped off a four-goal showing, and Donnelly notched her third assist of the contest. In addition, freshman attack players Kelsey Ruhl (Seattle, WA) and Summer Stafford (Littleton, CO) each recorded a netter.
With the offensive clearly on fire, the Bulldogs also gained impressive contributions from the defense, which limited the Tigers to only five shots in the second half. Sophomore defender Denise Guerrero (Glendale, CA), senior defender Grace Martin (Portland, OR), senior defender Angelyn Brown (Danville, CA), senior defender Jessica Jackson (Poway, CA), and senior defender Emily Bilenduke (Breckenridge, CO) all logged critical minutes for the Maroon and Gray.
Redlands won the draw-control battle, with Garrett reeling in seven of the team's 15.
In addition, Keary hauled in five ground balls and forced two opponent turnovers.
The Bulldogs (6-4) head to Oregon for a pair of in-region games, beginning on Thursday, March 24, against Pacific University (OR) at 3 p.m.
