CHICAGO (Duhawks.com) – The Loras women's lacrosse opened its 2016 season with an 11-4 setback to Illinois Tech. Four Duhawks recorded a goal in the loss, but six straight goals from the Scarlet Hawks opened a gap that was too large to close for Loras.
LORAS HIGHLIGHTS
- A violation during stick-checks resulted in the Duhawks starting a woman down, which Illinois Tech promptly took advantage of, scoring 15 seconds into the game.
- Sophomore Sarah Hanson opened the scoring for Loras at with 25:43 left in the half to even the score at one. The momentum failed to catch on as Loras was unable to net another goal in the first half.
- After Hanson's tally, the Scarlet Hawks ripped off five unanswered goals to close the half and take a 6-1 lead.
- Illinois Tech's Isabel Fitzpatrick-Meyers scored three unanswered goals in less than five minutes.
- Madison Meredith closes out the first half with a goal of her own with 1:31 left to give the Scarlet Hawks a 6-1 lead.
- A Sarah Colby goal extended Illinois Tech's lead to 7-1 at the 2:26 mark of the second half on an assist from Fitzpatrick-Meyers.
- With the man-advantage, Loras scored its second goal of the day on a shot by senior Kaitlyn Kutsch, to cut the Scarlet Hawk lead to 7-2 with 20:48 left in the second half.
- Junior Hannah Nelson tallied her first goal of the season with 11:45 left, followed 25 seconds later by freshman Molly Johnson's first career goal on an assist from freshman Martha Venchus.
- Leading 9-4, Illinois Tech tallied two more goals in the final 10 minutes to pad its lead at 11-4 to extend its lead to seven and seal the win.
- The Duhawks were outshot 26-15 on the day, with sophomore Ashley McGee making nine saves.
- Loras registered five free-position shots in the second half, but were unable to manufacture enough offense to cut into the deficit.
- Defensively, Illinois Tech successfully completed 10 of its 11 clearing attempts, compared to Loras 11 of 27 attempts.
FRIEDMAN GROUP PLAYER OF THE GAME
Hannah Nelson | Nelson's only shot of the day found the back of the net with her first goal of the 2016 season. The Western Springs, Ill. native recorded three ground balls, three caused turnovers and three draw controls.
UP NEXTLoras will have the next 10 days off to regroup and prepare for its next MWLC matchup on March 14 on the road against Cornell. The Rams are 0-2 on the year after dropping matches to Illinois Wesleyan and Midland last weekend.
