Box Score PUEBLO, Colo. – Although a few inches of snow cover the ground in Denver, the Regis University women's lacrosse team (7-1, 0-0 RMAC) made the trip to Colorado State University-Pueblo to face the Thunderwolves (5-3, 1-0 RMAC) in a non-conference game. The visitors got the best of the home team taking the 18-12 victory on Friday afternoon.
After a one-hour delay in the start of the game, Regis rattled off three goals in the opening minutes of the game. Freshman Wendy Donier got things started, taking a pass from Senior Erin Todd and netting the first goal of the game.
Todd then flipped the script and took a pass from senior Hilary Duda, shooting the ball past the CSU-P goalkeeper, extending the Rangers lead to 2-0. Senior Emily Elkins added the third RU goal one minute later.
In the tenth minute, Donier scored her second goal of the game, putting Regis firmly in the driver's seat with a 4-0 lead. Elkins followed Donier's lead by netting her second goal of the game with 18 minutes to go in the opening half, forcing a timeout from the home team.
After the timeout, the Thunderwolves were able to score their first goal of the game, cutting the Rangers lead to four goals at 5-1. RU responded with two more goals from Donier, her 23rd and 24th of the season, to put the visitors up 7-1. The final three minutes of the first half was full of action as both teams combined for four goals.
The Rangers got the last word as junior Erin Steiner notched her first goal of the game, and Elkins added another goal with four seconds remaining in the first half. RU took a 9-3 lead into halftime, looking to build on their momentum and put the game away in the second half.
Sophomore Jada Bonner got into the scoring column in the second half as she received a pass from Donier and blasted a shot into the back of the net, giving Regis a 10-3 lead. Back to back goals from the Thunderwolves cut the lead to five goals with 27 minutes left in the game.
Senior Katie Larson put the Rangers back up by six as she scored her first goal of the season in the seventh minute of the second half. Duda and senior Melissa Hastie each scored goals in the 12th minute, and Todd netted another in the 16th, bringing the score to 14-8 in favor of RU.
After Todd put Regis up 18-9 with three minutes left in the game, CSU-P outplayed the Rangers by scoring three straight goals, but it was too little too late as RU came out with the 18-12 victory, earning their first conference win of the season.
Regis outshot the home team 33 (25 SOG) to 18 (16 SOG) and managed to allow only one free position attempt for the Thunderwolves. The Rangers lost the draw control battle 16-15 but they won on the ground tracking down 20 ground balls to the opponents 18. Sophomore Kenley Harrington (7-1) earned her seventh victory of the year, making four saves in 49 minutes of play.
Donier (1 A, 6 SOG, 5 DC) led the way with five goals while seven other players scored for RU. Elkins (4 G, 5 SOG, 3 GB, 1 DC), Todd (3 G, 2 A, 4 SOG), and Duda (2 G, 4 A, 5 SOG, 1 GB) all had two or more goals in the game. Junior Katie Coleman led the team defensively as she collected a team-high three caused turnovers, allowing the offense opportunities to transition and attack often.
The women's lacrosse team will return home next weekend to host Colorado Mesa University (5-2, 1-1 RMAC) on Saturday, April 2 at 1 p.m. followed by a game with Adams State University (0-4, 0-1 RMAC) on Sunday, April 3 at 1 p.m.
