ORANGE, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Lacrosse team (6-7, 2-6 SCIAC) pushed Chapman University, who is receiving votes in the national polls, for sixty minutes Saturday morning on the road, but would fall short 17-16.
In the first twelve minutes the Panthers held a 6-2 lead with the two Bulldog goals coming from Maya Weaver (Tustin, CA) and Mallory Morrissey (Coronado, CA) with Catie Ramicone (Countryside, Ill.) picking up an assist on Weaver's goal.
Those two goals, however, came in the first two minutes as the U of R was held scoreless until there was just over a minute and a half left in the first quarter when Jenna Bradford (Anaheim, CA) ended the drought. Less than a minute later Ruby Czajkowski (West Hartford, CT) scored, while Redlands had a player advantage to draw within two, 6-4.
Redlands used the late momentum to start the second as Celine Flaig (Redondo Beach, CA) scored an unassisted goal before Cailin Walker (Portland, OR) found the back of the net to tie the game at six.
The two teams would trade goals down to the 10:40 mark as Natalie Schumann (Murrieta, CA) fed Briannah McGee (Murrieta, CA) for a player up goal to tie the game at seven.
Chapman responded with the next two goals before Ramicone and Flaig each took advantage of two more offensive opportunities with a player off the field for the Panthers as they tied the game at nine.
Over the final five minutes the Panthers locked up the Bulldogs offense as they ended the half on a 3-0 run to lead 12-9 after 30 minutes.
Walker, Czajkowski, and Emily Webster (Ladera Ranch, CA) opened the third quarter with four unanswered that gave them their first lead of the game, 13-12, with 2:22 remaining in the quarter.
Despite there being only a minute and 36 seconds left on the clock in the third, the two teams combined to score three times with two scores from Chapman and one for Ramicone as the game was even at 14-14.
The Panthers would score the first two goals of the fourth and held the Bulldogs scoreless for seven minutes before the Maroon and Grey pulled within one, 16-15, thanks to a Walker goal with eight minutes left in the game.
Chapman would be the next to respond as they scored the game-winning goal at the 6:03 mark. Redlands would get within one once again as Ramicone found Flaig for UR's 16th goal with 3:49 still to play, but the Panthers would hold on for the win.
Flaig and Walker finished with hat tricks, while Webster, Ramicone, and Czajkowski added a pair of goals. Weaver had six draw controls, two caused turnovers, a goal, and an assist. Alyssa Ashley (Vista, CA) played the full 60 minutes in goal and made seven saves.
Redlands plays game two of three on the road next Wednesday, April 10 at 7:30 p.m. at Occidental College in a pivotal SCIAC game between two teams fighting for a SCIAC Tournament berth.
