The University of Redlands women's lacrosse team returned home to the friendly surroundings of Farquhar Field for Wednesday night's game against the Pomona-Pitzer Colleges Sagehens. After building a 9-3 halftime lead, the Bulldogs held off a late push by the visiting squad and secured a 15-9 victory in an important Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) match.
After junior goalkeeper Quinn Egan (Greenwood Village, CO) initiated a successful clear from the Maroon and Gray's defensive third, freshman midfielder Sadie Pickering (Tacoma, WA) put Redlands on the board less than three minutes into the game. With a quality give-and-go move at the top of the circle, she successfully juked the defenders to create space for the goal.
Although the Sagehens evened the count a short time later, this was the only tie score of the contest, as the Bulldogs fired off four-consecutive netters to take a 5-1 lead by the 16:36-mark of the opening frame. During this stretch, Pickering continued to impress by scoring three times in a five-minute span.
Back-to-back scores by Pomona-Pitzer did very little to deter the home team from continuing to press on the offensive gas pedal, as sophomore midfielder Hanna Morford (West Linn, OR) snagged the subsequent draw control and went straight to the Sagehen net for a goal.
About three minutes later, Pickering notched her fifth netter of the game, with this one coming off of an assist from senior midfielder Breanne Rideout (San Diego, CA).
After Egan came up with a big save at the 7:41-mark, Redlands moved the ball the other way en route to a goal by junior midfielder Lacey Bjorndal (Sherwood, OR).
Freshman attack player Charly Walter (Bethesda, MD) closed out the strong offensive half for Redlands by converting a sweet pass from senior attack player Dulce Moll (Mercer Island, WA) into her second goal of the first half to make it 9-3.
During the second stanza, the Bulldogs stretched their advantage to 10 goals by the 15:56-mark, as Morford, Bjorndal, Walter, and Rideout each found the back of the net at least once to make it 15-5.
With contributions from Egan, junior Katie Koehler (Jackson, WY), junior Jacquelyn Archey (Sammamish, WA), freshman Paige Koenig (Centennial, CO), and various others, the Maroon and Gray's stellar defense also minimized the Sagehens' opportunities with quality stops and high pressure.
Nonetheless, Pomona-Pitzer made a late push with a 4-0 run, but Redlands remained in front through the final whistle to secure the 15-9 win.
Egan finished the night with 10 saves in a complete-game effort.
The Bulldogs won the draw-control battle with a 14-12 margin. Morford led the charge with five, while Pickering and Bjorndal each hauled in three.
Redlands (4-2, 2-1 SCIAC) welcomes Berry College (GA) to Farquhar Field on Monday, March 13, for a 7 p.m. non-conference bout.
