The University of Redlands women's lacrosse team returned
to regional action on Monday night with a duel against familiar foe
Whittier College but suffered a tough 12-14 overtime loss to the
Poets.
Redlands initiated the scoring in the first minute as junior
attack player Mary Shepherd (Dallas, TX) found the back of the net
for her 17th goal of the season.
Senior midfielder Lauren Matta (Holyoke, MA) connected on a
free-position shot with 20:29 remaining in the first period to put
the Bulldogs up by two.
The Maroon and Gray continued to press with two more unanswered
goals as junior midfielder Haley Kern (Portland, OR) knocked one in
at 18:53, which was followed by an unassisted score by senior
midfielder Liza Gray (Centennial, CO).
Whittier notched its first goal with 16:15 to go in the opening
half, but Redlands responded as junior attack player Diana Frey
(Silver Spring, MD) scored off of a pass from Gray. This inspired
an offensive eruption by the Poets as they scored three straight
goals to pull within one at the two-minute mark.
However, Matta tallied her second goal of the night, giving the
Bulldogs a 6-4 lead to finish out the first half.
The second half included a back-and-forth battle between the
teams, resulting in a tied score at eight all with 11:56 remaining.
Kern connected on a pass from Frey to put Redlands up, 9-8, but
Whittier fought back with two scores to earn its first lead of the
game.
Matta converted another free-position shot to tie the game again
with 3:01 to go in the second half, and then Frey found the back of
the next with 1:39 for what appeared to be the game-winner.
The Poets had other plans and took advantage of a late
opportunity and scored with 16 seconds remaining to send the game
into overtime.
During the overtime period, Whittier jumped out to a quick lead
with back-to-back goals. Junior attack player Anna Moriarty (Oak
Park, IL) put away a free-position shot to move the Bulldogs within
one but the Poets gained an insurance goal with 47 seconds left in
the overtime, closing out the exciting win.
Sophomore Bulldog goalkeeper Katrina Hostak (Maple Valley, WA)
posted her biggest game of the season with 20 saves between the
pipes.
Matta finished out the game with four goals, one assist, two
draw controls and two ground balls.
Both teams struggled with free-position shots, converting a
combined four out of 25 opportunities.
The Bulldogs (6-7) head to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on
Thursday for their final game of the regular season. The first draw
is set for 3:30 p.m.
