Lacrosse Battles Back at Whitman but Falls Just Short in 18-15 Defeat

Walla Walla, Wash. - A day after setting the school record for goals in a game, Lily Bachiochi led the Bearcats in goals again, but it wasn't enough as Willamette fell to Whitman 18-15.  The Bearcats took an early lead, but a strong third period from the Blues was too much to overcome in the end.

After falling behind early at Whitworth, it was Willamette's turn to jump out to the early lead on Saturday.  An early goal from Bachiochi and two from Shea Richardson-Pepper put the Bearcats up 3-0 just under five minutes into the game.  After a Whitman goal, Claire Kisielnicki joined the scoring and another score from Richardson-Pepper made it 5-1.  Two late goals from the Blues made the score 5-3 in favor of the Bearcats after one quarter of play.

Each team scored twice in the second quarter to send the game to halftime with Willamette leading 7-5, heading to a third quarter that would be all Whitman.  The Blues scored the opening three goals after halftime to pull ahead 8-5, but the Bearcats quickly responded with goals from Bahiochi and Alex Warfel to take the lead back at 9-8.  Unfortunately for Willamette, those were their last two goals of the period as Whitman ran off a string of six straight scores to take a 14-9 lead after three quarters.

The Bearcats continued to fight and Bachiochi scored the opening goal of the fourth quarter to pull Willamette within four, but Whitman was able to answer almost every Bearcat score with a goal of their own to hold the lead.  Two consecutive goals from Bachiochi midway through the period brought Willamette within three at 16-13, but again the Blues were able to answer and won by the final score of 18-15.

Bachiochi scored five times to lead Willamette, while Richardson-Pepper had four and Kisielnicki and Warfel each had three.  Bachiochi also led in assists with three, followed by Sydney Davis with two.  Ella Lassahn and Addie Martin each picked up three ground balls, and Warfel had six draw controls with Syd Shoemaker adding four.

Lacrosse will travel to Pacific University on Wednesday, April 23rd, and play their final home game of the season when they host Linfield University on Sunday, April 27th, at 1:00 pm.