The University of Redlands women's lacrosse team headed to Whittier College for Wednesday's Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) showdown against the Poets.  The Bulldogs broke open a 4-4 halftime tie and held off a late push by the home team to secure an important 12-10 victory.

During the first half, Whittier jumped on the board with back-to-back scores in the opening 10 minutes.  Redlands answered with four-straight goals, as senior midfielder Stephanie Garrett (San Diego, CA) led the charge by scoring two of them.

But the Poets responded with a pair of netters to even the count at four-all upon conclusion of the first half.

Head Coach Suzette Soboti's halftime speech inspired the right adjustments, as Redlands came out on fire with a quick score.  Freshman attack player Summer Stafford (Littleton, CO) converted a shot off of a pass from freshman attack player Kelsey Ruhl (Seattle, WA) less than 90 seconds into the action.

After the teams traded goals, the Bulldogs uncorked four unanswered netters to secure a 10-5 advantage with 11:28 left on the clock.  Three of these scores came off of free-position shots, as freshman midfielder Hanna Morford (West Linn, OR), sophomore midfielder Lacey Bjorndal (Sherwood, OR), and junior attack player Dulce Moll (Mercer Island, WA) each found the back of the net.  In addition, Morford found an open Garrett for a sweet combination to cap off the scoring spurt.

Following the Poets' sixth score of the game, Redlands gained the necessary cushion to stay in front when Garrett and Morford each fired off goals.

Although Whittier made a valiant push for a comeback late in the game, the Bulldogs earned the important win. 

A huge part of the Maroon and Gray's success came off the stick of sophomore goalkeeper Quinn Egan (Greenwood Village, CO), who served as a brick wall and racked up 13 saves in the second half.  In addition, the team caused 15 Poet turnovers, with senior midfielder Ellen Holt (Happy Valley, OR), senior defender Emily Bilenduke (Breckenridge, CO), and senior defender Angelyn Brown (Danville, CA) each accounting for two.

Overall, the Bulldogs held a slight 12-11 edge in draw controls, with Garrett hauling in a game-high seven.

Redlands (10-5, 4-4 SCIAC) heads to Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Saturday, April 16, for an 11 a.m. showdown against the conference-leading Sagehens.