DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) - Looking to bounce back from Wednesday's home opening loss to the Elmhurst Bluejays, the Loras College Women's Lacrosse team rallied around junior Kaitlyn Kutsch on Saturday. Taking on Cornell College in Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference action, the Duhawks used an early lead and eight goals by Kutsch to topple the Rams 10-6.

Holding off an early charge by the Rams (0-8, 0-2), freshman Sammi Wichgers led the Duhawks (2-4, 1-1) to a successful clear attempt. Corralling a ground ball, Wichgers fired a pass to Kutsch. Moving through the midfield, Kutsch stood atop the eight meter, surveying her options. With little room to work with, Kutsch flipped a pass to freshman Haley Sundquist. Knocking down anything in her way, Sundquist made her way to the net and fired a shot past the goalkeeper for an early 1-0 lead.

After Cornell won the ensuing draw, the Duhawks defense stood tall. The Rams top offensive threat Sydney Cooper fired a shot from close range but freshman goalkeeper Ashley McGee stepped in front of it for the save. 

A successful clear by the Duhawks put the attack in another position to score. Drawing a free position shot, Kutsch blasted a shot into the back of the net doubling Loras lead. 

On the ensuing draw, senior Gina Dacy soared through the air to snag the ball. Using her speed, Dacy flew up field and dumped to Kutsch. Without hesitation, Kutsch made her way through the Rams defense before netting her second goal of the afternoon.

Kutsch's goal forced Cornell to take a timeout with 23:04 to play in the opening frame. 

A productive regrouping session, the Rams returned to the field and won the draw. Winning the draw, Cornell's Kelly Oltjenbruns sprinted down field before garnering a free position opportunity. Firing a laser the net, McGee blocked the shot away, but Sydney Cooper of the Rams chased down the rebound. Wrapping around the crease, Cooper caught McGee out of position and slipped a shot past her stick.

Coming up empty on a series of possessions, the Duhawks used a clutch save by McGee to jumpstart their transition game. After McGee moved the ball into the midfield, sophomore Hannah Nelson fed Dacy on a cut up the middle. Using her speed, the Rochester, Minnesota product sliced and diced the Cornell defense, giving her enough space to let off a shot for the goal.

In the minutes following the teams traded goals. Oltjenbruns doubled her goal total on the day before Kutsch secured the hat trick in the first half, giving Loras a 5-2 lead.

After two more goals by Kutsch, the Duhawks took a 7-2 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Cornell struck in the opening minute before adding two more after a goal by Kutsch. The 3-1 run by the Rams in the first 20 minutes of the half, cut Loras lead to 8-5 with 12:02 to play.

Facing a significant amount of pressure on attack, the Duhawks held steady, refusing to let it knock them off their game. Knowing that time was working in their favor, Loras moved the ball around the eight meter, possessing the ball until they saw an opportunity. 

Taking on an added amount of pressure by the Rams defense, the Duhawks stepped it up defensively. Kutsch and Nelson combined on caused turnovers in the attacking third, ending any Rams opportunity before it could get started and McGee made saves late to hold off Cornell's comeback attempt. 

A pair of goals by Kutsch in the final 10 minutes secured the 10-6 win for the Duhawks, their first conference win of the season.

Game Changer
Opening the game with three straight goals, the Duhawks held to momentum from the start

Key Stat
Loras bounced back from Wednesday's 3-of-8 free position showing to capitalize on 4-of-6 shots from the eight meter while Cornell was held to 2-of-6

Notables

• Loras is 3-1 against teams from Iowa over the past three years
• Junior Kaitlyn Kutsch scored a season-best eight goals, one shy of her career-high
• Senior Gina Dacy tallied her second goal of the season, matching her season total from a year ago
• Freshman Haley Sundquist has scored a goal in five of the Duhawks' six games this season
• Freshman Ashley McGee moved to 2-4 in goal, tallying nine saves in the win

Quotable

Junior Kaitlyn Kutsch

"We were able to settle it on attack and move the ball around which opened up drives for me. I thought everyone did a great job of possessing and let us run our attack. The balance that we have had on attack gives everyone more opportunities, and that's what I had today."

"Defensively, we've really fine tuned things. Eliza has done a great job down there acting as a stone wall when needed to slide over and stop drives and the younger players have really stepped up."

Sophomore Hannah Nelson

"After a loss, you really want to push and prove to everyone that you can do. Our motto for this year is "Make A Name" and I think we took a step in the right direction with that."

"Taking on Wartburg tomorrow, we are going to need to be disciplined on defense and attack. We need to stay focused and take care of the things we control tomorrow against Wartburg."

Up Next

Loras closes out their three-game home stand on Sunday when they welcome the Knights of Wartburg College to the Rock Bowl. Opening draw for the MWLC contest is set for 2 p.m.