The University of Redlands women's lacrosse team looks forward to hosting Occidental College in tonight's semifinal match of the 2014 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship Tournament at 7 p.m.
The teams battle it out on Farquhar Field for a spot in the final against top-seeded Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on May 3 in Claremont.
General admission to Monday's game is $5. SCIAC personnel and students are free with current school ID. Children 12 years of age and under are also admitted for free.
No pets are allowed at the field.
In addition, fans may follow the excitement through live stats and video streaming at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/redlands.portal#.
Redlands (11-4, 8-2 SCIAC) enters the regular-season event as the No. 2 seed after the head-to-head tiebreaker between Pomona-Pitzer and Occidental. The Bulldogs have scored 145 netters and dished out 66 assists in conference competition, ranking first among the six-team field.
Sophomore midfielder Stephanie Garrett (San Diego, CA), senior attack player KK McCaslin (Portland, OR), and senior midfielder Jacky Craycraft (Trabuco Canyon, CA) spearhead the Bulldogs' offense, combining for 96 of the team's SCIAC goals.
Defensively, the Maroon and Gray has relied on senior defender Ally Leipzig (Newton, MA) to shore up the back line with a team-leading 17 caused turnovers and 25 ground balls. In the cage, freshman Gigja Hollyday (Aliso Viejo, CA) and sophomore Izzy Baez (Zionsville, IN) have shared time, with each amassing four wins during the conference season.
Occidental advances to the semifinal game after defeating Whittier College in Wednesday's first-round match by a score of 15-6.
The Tigers lead the conference in draw controls, with Beebe Finch-Sanders collecting 51 as the leader among the six-team field.
Offensively, Occidental also looks to a three-headed attack with Alida Beck, Tori Larson, and Rebecca Belding each scoring 20 or more goals in SCIAC competition.
On the other end of the field, the Tigers rely on Kristen Hee to patrol the cage, amassing nearly 600 minutes and 60 saves in 11 conference showdowns.
The SCIAC Championship Tournament is part of the regular season for women's lacrosse, with each round providing points to determine the 2014 SCIAC Champion. The teams each gain one point for a win during dual competition, and then one point for a first-round win, three points for a semifinal win, two points for a semifinal loss, five points for a final win, and four points for a final loss.
In an ironic twist of scoring, Occidental actually holds a one-point lead over Redlands, after winning the first-round match against Whittier. The Bulldogs must win to play for the title, while the Tigers will clinch at least a share of the championship with a win over Redlands.
