Colorado College women’s lacrosse dominated once again in their two away games in Southern California, moving to a 12–0 record after another win on Senior Night.
On March 30, Colorado College utilized a five-point performance from attacker Eva King ’20 and stellar goaltending from Alena Stern ’21 to record a 14–8 victory over Occidental College in the first of two games in Southern California.
King ignited a 10–2 surge midway through the first half when she struck for the second of her four goals. After goals from Ellie Meyer ’19, another from King, and a goal from Caroline Keller ’21, Maggie O’Donnell ’22 capped CC’s 5–0 run with nearly 12 minutes remaining in the first half, giving the Tigers a 6–2 lead after they scored five goals in a span of three minutes.
Each team scored twice during the final 10 minutes of the first half as CC built an 8–4 lead. The Tigers continued to power through the early stages of the second half and manufactured a commanding eight-point lead when O’Donnell finished a 4–0 run with just over 20 minutes remaining in the game.
Scores by Occidental cut their deficit to seven points several times, but each time CC answered less than a minute later to maintain a comfortable lead. Their offensive barrage, along with the stellar goaltending of Stern, kept Occidental out of the game. Stern set a season high with 14 saves. It marked the fourth time this season and the 11th time in her career that she posted double-digit saves.
“It was really a full-team effort,” said midfielder Avery Bell ’21. “Everyone contributed from both ends of the field and the bench.”
The next day, CC traveled south of Los Angeles to Claremont, Calif. to secure a 14–7 victory against the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens. A dominant performance during the second half powered the No. 22 Tigers to an impressive road.
After creating a tight halftime lead, CC outscored the Sagehens, 9–3, during the final 30 minutes of the game to improve to an 11–0 record and to secure their position as the No. 1 team in the West. Their five-goal explosion during the opening stages of the second half served as the most important factor in their victory.
The first goal, made by O’Donnell, gave the Tigers a four-goal cushion and proved to be the game winner. King struck for two more to extend CC’s advantage to 10–4.
King led the Tigers with three goals and three assists, and continued to climb CC’s record boards. The junior attacker finished the game with 92 career goals and climbed into a tie for 16th place on the program’s all-time list with Kristin Rider, who graduated in 2010.
The Tigers finished with a 33–25 advantage in total shots and a 23–19 edge in ground balls, and Stern finished with nine saves for the Tigers.
After winning four games in seven days, CC was idle until April 9 when they hosted Johnson & Wales University in their final home game of the regular season.
Sophie Murphy ’21, O’Donnell, Allie Thuet ’20, and Lauren Pejza ’20 led the Tigers in scoring, each striking twice. Stern even got in on the action, scoring her first collegiate goal on a free-position shot with just under 16 minutes remaining in the first half to give CC a 9–0 lead.
After this game, the CC women’s lacrosse team tied the program record with its 12th consecutive victory as they cruised to a 20–2 victory over the Wildcats on Senior Night at Washburn Field.
The only other time CC opened a season with 12 straight wins was in 2004 when the Tigers advanced to the regional final of the NCAA Division III Women’s Lacrosse Championship.
The women head to Minnesota for matchups against Augsburg University and Hamline University before they compete in the 2019 Souther Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship tournament at the end of April.