La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse lacrosse team dropped its home opener Saturday with a 15-8 loss to Carthage College (Wis.) at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. The Eagles fall to 0-2 on the season while the Firebirds improve to 4-0.
Carthage (Wis.) scored the first three goals of the game on Saturday. Emma McDonald scored off an August Claridge assist at 14:36. Claridge scored the next two goals to make it 3-0 after the first quarter.
Angie Olla's goal tied the game at 4-4.
UWL got on the scoreboard with 12:01 left in the second quarter on an
Ava Schiltz goal. After Claridge scored with 4:40 remaining to give the Firebirds a 4-1 lead, the Eagles tied the game with three straight goals.
Tori Katzenmeyer (1:44 left) cut it to 4-2 and Schiltz (1:36) made it 4-3.
Angie Olla forced a 4-4 halftime tie with :15 remaining.
Schiltz opened the second half with a pair of goals to give UWL a 6-4 lead. Carthage (Wis.) went on a 5-0 run to end the third quarter to take a 9-6 advantage. Kyleigh Higgins scored twice to the game. Piper LeFevre gave the Firebirds a 7-6 lead with 6:13 left and Claridge added two goals to end the quarter.
UWL cut the lead to 9-7 with 14:37 remaining on an Schiltz goal, but Carthage (Wis.) responded with six consecutive goals. Claridge and Rosie Nolan each scored twice.
Megan Maloney finished the scoring for UWL with 1:39 left.
UWL had 24 shots in the game as Schiltz finished with a team-high five goals and 10 shots. She added five draw controls. Maloney had a team-leading six draw controls with
Sofia Macias recording a team-high three caused turnovers.
Stefania Rossi recorded 15 saves.
Stefania Rossi recorded 15 saves in the game.
Carthage (Wis.) totaled 37 shots. Claridge had seven goals on 16 shots while Higgins finished with three goals and six draw controls. Kara Jaynes registered eight saves.
UWL returns to action Wednesday, March 5 at Illinois Wesleyan University at 3:30 p.m.
