The University of Redlands women’s lacrosse wrapped up a challenging week of competition by facing two teams from the East Coast during the weekend.  On Saturday, the Bulldogs faltered against Virginia Wesleyan College by a score of 9-16 and then came up short against Stevens Tech, 7-19.

In Saturday’s match, Redlands took an early 4-2 lead but then gave up nine unanswered goals and never recovered.  The team’s bright spot came from freshman attack player Christy Smith (shown in photo; St. Louis Park, MN) as she scored eight goals to establish a new Redlands record for goals in a game.  Junior midfielder Lauren Matta (Holyoke, MA) provided the team’s other goal in the tough loss.  Senior goalkeeper Lindsay Feig (Hingham, MA) made 10 stops between the pipes as freshman defender Anna Kessler (Portland, OR) tallied nine ground balls.

Against Stevens Tech, the Bulldogs struggled to gain possession on the draw control, earning only seven opportunities, compared to the Ducks’ 20.  After scoring the first goal of the game, Redlands battled with Stevens Tech, earning a 3-3 tie at 16:12 in the first half.  Unfortunately, the Ducks stormed out to a 9-4 lead and never relinquished control of the game.  For Redlands, Smith led the team with three goals while freshman midfielder Rosie Breen (Portola Valley, CA), Matta, sophomore attack player Mary Shepherd (Dallas, TX) and freshman midfielder Emily Wright (Menlo Park, CA) each scored once.  Breen also provided an assist.  Feig and freshman Katrina Hostak (Maple Valley, WA) split time in goal, making nine and three saves, respectively.

Redlands (1-3) looks to stop their three-game skid on Wednesday against The College of Wooster (OH) at 7 p.m. on Farquhar Field.