Leah Donnelly prepares to catch the ball.
Leah Donnelly (photo by Larry Newman)

Donnelly scores hat trick in women’s lacrosse loss

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University women's lacrosse team dropped a non-conference match to the visiting Colorado College (11-3) 18-8 on Sunday afternoon. The Panthers (3-8) were led by sophomore Leah Donnelly, who tallied her third hat trick of the season.

The Tigers took an early 2-0 lead when senior Annie DeFrino and junior Nikki Blair put a couple goals in the back of the net. Sophomore Demi Segura answered with a goal of her own just over three minutes later to cut the deficit to one goal. Colorado College caught fire, scoring six unanswered goals over nine minutes to take an 8-1 lead with just under 15 minutes to play in the first half.

Donnelly scored her first goal with just over 12 minutes left to play, followed by back-to-back-to-back goals from the Tigers. Donnelly tallied her second goal with over three minutes left to play, but another Colorado College goal put the Tigers up 12-3 going into the second half.

Colorado came out strong in the second half, scoring a goal just 34 seconds into the second half to take a 10-goal lead. Sophomore Michaela Lopez and Donnelly answered with a couple of goals that cut the deficit down to eight goals. Lopez, sophomore Danelle Lucero and junior Danielle Zahn added three more goals in the second half, but the Tigers took home their 11th victory of the season

Juniors Lucy Schwartz and Shelby Thompson led the Panthers on the back line, tallying five ground balls and five caused turnovers each. On top of her hat trick, Donnelly also tallied three draw controls and senior Stacey Zuppa and Zahn each tallied three ground balls. Freshman Taylor Hextrum was solid between the pipes, tallying 11 saves in the effort. The rookie currently ranks No. 5 in the conference with 71 total saves.

Chapman heads out on the road for its next two SCIAC games but returns to Wilson Field on Wednesday, April 18 at 7 p.m. to take on Pomona-Pitzer.

by Katie Bell
Sports Information Assistant

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