MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The 20th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's lacrosse team had its comeback attempt thwarted by No. 15/17 Colorado College Saturday afternoon, Feb. 22, at Mason Field on the campus of Rhodes College. The Titans tallied four goals in the final 10 minutes, but ultimately suffered a 15-12 setback in their season opener.
Junior
Maggie Torres (Chicago, Ill.-Resurrection) led the Titans with four goals, sophomore
Bridget O'Malley (Chicago, Ill.-Marist) tallied three, and fellow sophomore
Cassandra Jones (Elk Grove Village, Ill.-Conant) added two. Freshman
Val Villanueva (Chicago, Ill.-Lane Tech), sophomore
Landry Elliott (Milwaukee, Wis.-Nicolet), and junior
Riley Rooney (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles East) recorded one apiece to round out the scoring.
Defensively, junior
Janaye Godfrey (Hillsboro, Ore.-Lincoln) made 12 saves, while Torres notched a team-best two caused turnovers. Torres, along with O'Malley, Jones, and Rooney tied for the team lead with two ground balls each.
IWU registered 32 shots, 21 on goal, while CC notched 35 shots and put 27 on target. The Titans held a convincing 19-8 advantage in draw controls, thanks in large part to 10 wins by O'Malley, and manufactured 11 free-position opportunities to the Tigers' 10. Colorado College committed 13 turnovers to Illinois Wesleyan's 24, and converted on 19-of-22 clear attempts to IWU's 9-of-19.
Illinois Wesleyan used back-to-back goals by Torres and O'Malley over a one-minute span to take a 2-1 lead in the early goings, but Colorado College scored six of the games next seven goals to take a 7-3 lead halfway through the opening period.
Rooney broke through with a goal on an assist from Elliott and Torres added her second tally of the afternoon to trim the Tigers lead to 11-5 at the break.
In the second half, O'Malley got the Titans going with a pair of goals in the first five minutes. Jones, Villanueva, Elliott, and Torres added tallies but IWU's comeback effort came up short, 15-12.
Illinois Wesleyan returns to action tomorrow, Feb. 23, with a 12 p.m. tilt against Rhodes College.
