Billy Saunders, Regis Athletics

No. 5 Rangers outscore Rockhurst, 13-3, over final three quarters en route to fourth straight win

Mar 13 | By: David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

Regis junior Megan Bunker (#11) wins one of her season-high 12 draw controls on Wednesday.

DENVER, Colo. — The No. 5 ranked Regis University women's lacrosse team closed out the Rocky Mountain Shootout on Wednesday, dominating the final three quarters in a 17-7 victory over Rockhurst University.

Regis (4-0 overall) outscored the visiting Hawks (4-1 overall) by a 13-3 margin over the final 45 minutes of action as the Rangers' draw control team and defensive pressure erased any upset hopes for Rockhurst.

"I thought we did a really great job adjusting to the physicality of their defense after the first quarter. And what was really the big difference for us, especially in those second and third quarters, was draw possessions," said Regis head coach, Sarah Kellner. "Then our defense did a really great job keying in on some of Rockhurst's top players throughout the whole game, taking away their strong hand, and Elizabeth Myotte was phenomenal in the cage."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Rockhurst, which joined the Rangers in defeating Dominican University earlier in the Rocky Mountain Shootout, came out of the gates strong as the Hawks scored three of the final four goals in the first quarter, and held a 4-2 lead in draw controls, en route to playing the Rangers to a 4-4 draw through the opening 15 minutes.

The Rangers responded with a dominant second quarter as they shut out the Hawks and ballooned their lead to 10-4 at the break.

Regis would end up going on a 10-0 scoring run all the way through the 2:40 mark of the third quarter, earning a running clock situation at 14-4, while at one stretch winning 12 of the next 14 draw controls during that stretch. The Rangers finished the game with an 18-9 advantage in draw controls, led by a season-high 12 from junior midfielder Megan Bunker.

"Megan has such a high lacrosse IQ and was able to put the ball off the draw in a lot of different places," Kellner said of Bunker, who also added two goals on Wednesday. "I thought our whole draw team together is very smart and communicate with each other very well. We had some great box outs on the circle and won a lot of 50-50 balls on the ground."

With the Rangers controlling the draw, and with six key saves from senior goalkeeper Elizabeth Myotte, the Rockhurst offense was limited to just three goals and three draw control wins in the second half.

Offensively, the Rangers were paced by graduate student midfielder Bailey Truex, who notched her fourth straight game with three goals or more after netting four scores on Wednesday.

Regis as a team had nine different goal scorers in the win, led by Truex with four and a hat trick from sophomore midfielder Shea Murphy, who leads all Rangers with 14 goals through the team's first four games.

Senior midfielder Lily Ferguson, sophomore attacker Lauren Sheets and Bunker all added two goals apiece, as well, while the quartet of graduate student attacker Gabby Rothermund, sophomore Maggie Schipfer, junior Becky Goetsch and sophomore Noemi Ramirez all netted one goal.

Adding to her big afternoon, Bunker also posted team highs in caused turnovers (2) and ground balls (3).

UP NEXT
The Rangers will now prepare for a top-10 matchup this weekend against regional foe, No. 9 ranked Maryville (7-0 overall). The game is tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday depending on the severity of the winter weather expected in the Denver area beginning Wednesday evening.

For any schedule updates, be sure to check online at www.regisrangers.com or by following Regis Athletics on its social media platforms.

"We're excited for our first time getting to see (Maryville), excited to be at home under the lights, hopefully, depending on the weather," Kellner said. "Maryville is a very good team with a lot of speed, a lot of talent, and some great attackers. We'll be preparing ourselves to be ready."

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