BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- The Illinois Wesleyan women's lacrosse team dropped their first game of the season on Friday, March 2, falling to Colorado College by a final score of 14-11. Junior Dani Engelbreit led the team with four goals, three ground balls, and six draw controls. Engelbreit finished 2-of-2 on free position shots.

With a loss the Titans fell to 2-1 on the season. Colorado College improved to 1-1 with a win on Friday.

Illinois Wesleyan was out-shot by the Tigers 34-23 and 28-18 in shots on goal. The Titans committed 36 turnovers as opposed to 27 for Colorado College. IWU won 15 draw controls compared to 12 for the Tigers.

In addition to the four goals scored by Engelbreit, senior Abby Kushina added three, and each of freshman Riley Rooney and junior Claudia Richman scored twice. Junior Grainne Kelly led the team with two assists while Rooney, freshman Maggie Torres, and junior Sam Bidlack each assisted on one goal. Senior Mariah Smith led the team in ground balls with four.

Making her second start of the season in goal, freshman Janaye Godfrey made 14 saves and allowed 14 goals.

Illinois Wesleyan dug themselves into an early hole trailing the Tigers 7-1 after the first 22 minutes of action. Each team scored three goals in the final minutes of the half, giving Colorado College a 10-4 lead heading into halftime.

The Titans came out of the gates with momentum scoring four of the first five goals of the second half, cutting the Colorado College lead to just two at 11-9. Colorado College's defense tightened up for the final 15 minutes of the game however, allowing the Titans to score two more goals as the Tigers tacked on three of their own.

Steph Kelly led the Tigers with four goals and three assists, followed by a four goal performance by Annie DeFrino. Cole Vanacore picked up six ground balls for the Tigers. In goal, Alena Stern earned the win for her team making five saves and allowing six goals.

What's Next?
Illinois Wesleyan will stay at home and face Rhodes College at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 4. Rhodes will play an early morning match on IWU's home field on Saturday, March 3, taking on Colorado College before the Tigers return home.