Women's lacrosse scores 20 goals in wild win

ORANGE, Calif. – In a match fueled by lengthy runs, the Chapman University women's lacrosse team held on to beat visiting Elizabethtown 20-16 on Tuesday. The Panthers (2-2) trailed by as much as two and led by as many as 11 goals in the back and forth match.

Senior Danielle Zahn scored a season-best five goals to lead the Panthers while the Blue Jays' Kate Ziegler scored six goals and assisted on three others to lead Elizabethtown. Four more Panthers scored at least a hat trick in the high-scoring affair.

The match began with a quick scoring spurt to set the tone for the fast pace that kept up over all 60 minutes. Freshman Meg Hanson scored the Panthers first goal just 16 seconds into the match and junior Alexandra Callaway scored just 20 seconds later for a 2-0 lead in the first 36 seconds.

Ziegler put the Blue Jays on the board at the 27:46 mark of the first half and Madelyn Baker tied it up at 2-2 before the first five minutes were through. Chapman went on to build a 5-3 lead in the first 11 minutes but Elizabethtown put together the first length scoring run of the match.

With 17:59 left in the first half, Baker sparked a four-goal run for the Blue Jays. Ziegler's back-to-back goals but Elizabethtown up 7-5 with 12:46 to go but Chapman had a loud response.

Down two, the Panthers scored the last seven goals of the first half with five different players getting in on the action. Zahn scored three goals during the stretch and sophomore Sarah Spaeth went coast-to-coast on a clear attempt to score her first career goal.

Junior Lucy Schwartz needed just 37 seconds of the second half to continue the lengthy run. Through both halves, Chapman scored 13 consecutive goals over a 22-minute span to build an 18-7 lead.

However, Elizabethtown wasn't about to let the running clock wind down to zero without a fight. Despite not scoring for the last 12:46 of the first half and 12:22 of the second half, the Blue Jays fought their way back into the game.

Lexie Sharp finally broke the scoring silence for the visitors, sparking an eight-goal run. Over the next 12 minutes after Sharp's goal, Elizabethtown held Chapman without a goal while putting seven more in the back of the net to make it 18-15 with 5:18 to go. The final three goals of the run came in a 59 second window.

With 4:10 to go, Hanson scored a goal for Chapman, intercepting a pass from the goalie to begin a clear attempt and taking it back in for a one-on-one score. Junior Leah Donnelly put an exclamation on the win with the Panthers 20th goal jest 23 second later.

Callaway and Donnelly each scored three times in the game while Hanson and Schwartz each ended the match with four goals. Zahn also picked up nine draw controls to lead the Panthers to a 21-17 advantage while Hanson picked up five ground balls and caused four turnovers.

Chapman is back on Wilson Field on Friday to take on Colorado College at 6 p.m.

By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director

Become a fan of Chapman Athletics on Facebook
Follow Chapman Athletics on Twitter @ChapmanSports
Post your #PantherPic to Instagram @ChapmanSports