CHICAGO, Ill. - The Kalamazoo College women's lacrosse team played its third consecutive road contest, traveling to Illinois Tech on Saturday afternoon (Mar. 4). The Hornets improved their record to 2-1 after a 22-8 win over the Scarlet Hawks.
Kalamazoo seized control of the game after Jordan Doyle scored 28 seconds after the opening draw. Then, Abbie Caza added two more goals before Illinois Tech scored its first two times of the game. After that, Doyle, Ella Spooner, and Caza netted another three goals for the Hornets for a four-goal advantage. Spooner rounded out the scoring for the quarter in response to the Scarlet Hawks' third goal to take a 7-3 lead.
Both teams scored three goals a piece in the second quarter, giving Kalamazoo a 10-6 advantage at the half. Caza scored the period's first goal and the third after an Illinois Tech goal. Then, Doyle put away the last goal with 32 seconds left after the Scarlet Hawks scored twice.
The Hornets outscored Illinois Tech 8-1 in the third quarter to blow the game open. Spooner (2), Sophie Hartl, Caza, and Hannah Heeren netted five straight goals after halftime for Kalamazoo. After the Scarlet Hawks scored their one goal, Sydney Myszenski put away three consecutive goals to close out the quarter.
Kalamazoo only surrendered two goals in the second half total, as the offense scored another four times in the fourth quarter. Caza scored her last two of the game, with a Scarlet Hawk goal splitting them. Heeren and Spooner put away the final two goals of the contest.
Jordan Flink (2-1) started in goal and made 13 saves on 21 attempts. Hartl led the team with four ground balls, Heeren collected eight draw controls, and a trio of Hornets (Hartl, Spooner, and Elena Basso) had two caused turnovers a piece.
Offensively, Caza led the way with eight goals and an assist, as Spooner (5), Myszenski (3), Doyle (3), and Heeren (2) also had multi-goal games. In addition, Spooner and Heeren collected three assists a piece, with Hartl and Myszenski assisting on goals twice.
As a team, the Hornets finished with more ground balls (19-18), draw controls (18-8), and shots (38-29). Kalamazoo also forced 14 turnovers, was 9-10 on clear opportunities, and 1-6 on free position shots.
The Hornets will be back in action for their first home game of the 2023 season on Thursday (Mar. 9) against Aurora at 5 p.m.