During ALS Awareness Night, the University of Redlands women's lacrosse team suffered a slow start against the visiting Occidental College Tigers and struggled to recover en route to a 10-18 loss in Saturday's Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) contest on Farquhar Field.

The Tigers came out firing and earned a 5-1 lead by the 23:09-mark of the first period.  Senior midfielder Hanna Morford (West Linn, OR) registered the Bulldogs' first goal of the game on a man-up opportunity about four minutes into the game.

As a result of back-to-back scores, the Maroon and Gray cut the deficit to 3-5 with 18:36 to go.  First-year midfielders Joren Fettig (Bend, OR) and Sydney Louie (Lafayette, CA) each found the back of the net for Redlands, with hopes of creating some momentum for the home team.

However, Oxy closed out the opening frame with a 5-2 run that forced Redlands into a sizeable hole at 5-10.  Junior midfielder Sadie Pickering (Tacoma, WA) accounted for both of the Bulldogs' scores, first on an unassisted drive to the goal and then on a successful free-position shot.

Following the necessary halftime adjustments, Redlands appeared to have new life early in the second half, as Morford and Pickering each fired off a goal less than three minutes in to make it 7-10.

Nonetheless, the Tigers responded with a 6-0 spurt to put the game out of reach for the Bulldogs. 

But the Maroon and Gray kept battling, as first-year midfielder Ashley Rende (Mission Viejo, CA) and Louie combined for Redlands' final three scores but it was not enough to make up the difference.  Rende's second netter came off of first-year goalkeeper Annie Van Norstrand's (Littleton, CO) third caused turnover of the game in a stellar defensive play.  In addition, Louie slipped in a buzzer-beater from distance on a low, driving blast to the back of the net. 

Redlands (7-7, 1-7 SCIAC) heads to Whittier College for a 7 p.m. tilt against the Poets on Wednesday, April 17.