Women's lacrosse locks down Redlands for big SCIAC win

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University women's lacrosse team slugged out a 10-5 victory over visiting Redlands on Saturday for its second SCIAC win of the season. The Panthers' defense led Chapman to its third victory in the last four matches.

Defense dominated the night as the SCIAC slugfest featured 33 caused turnovers between the two teams. With both teams fighting for the fourth and final spot in the SCIAC Tournament, the stakes were high for both squads.

Chapman (3-7, 2-4 SCIAC) went up early when sophomore Alexandra Callaway converted a free-position shot just less than two minutes in. The Bulldogs (6-7, 2-4 SCIAC) didn't wait long to answer as Hanna Morford put away her first of two goals on the night to tie it up 43 second later.

Chapman went on a run to regain the lead and keep building upon it. Senior Stacey Zuppa scored her first goal of the night just as Redlands was about to get back to full strength after a yellow card. She drove into the critical scoring area just two minutes later and drove in her second goal for a 3-1 lead.

The defenses took over for a long stretch in forcing turnover after turnover on both sides. Finally, sophomore Allie Qualman was break the scoring silence with a goal at the 17:19 mark in the first half. The Panthers threatened again after a long scoring silence as Callaway's shot was saved by Redlands' Quinn Egan. Sophomore Danelle Lucero picked up the rebound, which led to junior Danielle Zahn finding Qualman wide open for another goal with 8:38 to go.

Zuppa scored her third of the first half on a free position shot for a 6-1 lead. The Bulldogs 23-minute drought came to a close shortly after as Morford picked up the draw control and found Adi Fellows for a goal just 11 seconds after Zuppa's to make it 6-2 heading into halftime.

Callaway began the scoring again in the second half and the teams traded goals for the final 30 minutes with the Panthers netting four and the Bulldogs getting three. The defenses stepped up in the second as well as Redlands forced Chapman into 17 turnovers while the Panthers forced the Bulldogs into 15. Freshman Taylor Hextrum made four of her six saves in the second half to keep Redlands from climbing back into the game.

The Panthers' 19 caused turnovers are the most this season. Junior Shelby Thompson had four while sophomore Ally Kroeckel and junior Lucy Schwartz each had three to anchor the defense. Zuppa tallied four goals with two assists to lead the Panthers in the attacking zone while Qualman scored three times for the hat trick.

The Panthers are back home on Sunday, April 8 to take on Colorado College at 11 a.m.

By Steven Olveda                                        
Sports Information Director

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