COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's lacrosse team dropped a home non-conference matchup against No. 3 UIndy on Tuesday evening, despite a strong first half.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
- Final Score: L, 16-8
- Records: UCCS (1-3, 0-0 RMAC) | #3 UIndy (5-1, 0-0 GLVC)
- Facility | Location: Mountain Lion Stadium | Colorado Springs, Colo.
- All-Time Series: This afternoon's game was the first match up between UCCS and UIndy in school history. With today's loss, the Mountain Lions are now 0-1 all-time.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER: UIndy 4, UCCS 3
- University of Indianapolis started off strong by winning the first draw control and barrelling down the field into Mountain Lion defensive territory, giving Olivia Bladon a shooting opportunity. With a save from Delaney Gnos, UCCS earned some momentum and scored moments later as Sofia Watts buried a shot past Ava Graham's left side. In an immediate response, Sage Da Silva connected with Ella Fornek for UIndy's first goal of the evening. A minute later, Megan Ghert lobbed a pass to Reese Fahlke back-post, who went on to smash a shot into the top right corner of the net. Ahead by a single goal, the Greyhounds sprinted down the field yet again and slowly passed the ball around until Malaena Michielin and Alexa Versaci both logged shots within a matter of seconds, but ultimately could not slip the ball behind Gnos' stick. With just over seven minutes remaining in the first quarter, Michielin recorded her 20th goal of the season, and earned UIndy a 3-1 lead. UCCS was forced to call a timeout and regroup, coming back out of the team huddle with some fire. Allison Hoffman drew a free position not long after, and as the whistle blew, buried a shot past Graham to close the gap within one point. However, Da Silva answered with a goal of her own, pushing the Greyhounds ahead 4-2. UCCS finding themselves back on the attack moments later, Ella Mills came from behind the goal to cut through multiple defenders and secure her first goal of the game, bringing the score to 3-4 just before the break.
SECOND QUARTER: UIndy 4, UCCS 3
- Just 30 seconds after the second quarter began, the Greyhounds earned a quick goal as Margaret Galloway connected with Michielin for a two-goal lead. Gnos was the star of the show, logging three impressive shots in the following minute, but could not hold UIndy off forever as Michielin secured yet another goal and forced the Mountain Lions to trail 6-3. With 11 minutes left on the clock, Elle Cimini went right for goal on a free position with a powerful shot into the lower left corner of the net, but was stunningly saved by Gnos. UCCS barrelled into Greyhound defensive territory for the first time in the second quarter, allowing Julia Hoffman to earn a free position shot. Graham made a skilled save of her own and lobbed a long pass to Versaci, who deceived a Mountain Lion defender and slipped the ball to Michielin for UIndy's seventh goal of the evening. Seventy seconds later, Olivia Bladon earned the Greyhounds an 8-3 lead. With four minutes remaining until halftime, the Fannin sisters connected with ease to bring the Mountain Lions within four goals of UIndy's eight total. Bladon committed a foul not long after her goal, causing Sofia Watts to score off a free position attempt. As 48 seconds were left on the clock, Hollis Rang committed another foul on the Greyhound end, allowing Allison Hoffman to secure a player-up goal for UCCS and bring the score to 8-6. Allie Schell quickly drew a third free position for the Mountain Lions just 18 seconds before the second quarter concluded, but as her shot ricochetted off the goal post, UCCS continued to trail by two goals heading into the third quarter.
THIRD QUARTER: UIndy 4, UCCS 0
- Allison Hoffman jump-started a Mountain Lion attack as she won the first draw control of the third quarter, earning a free position moments after she sprinted down the field. Graham blocked her shot and lobbed a pass to Amanda Hurry, but as she attempted to sprint up the left side of the field, Allison Hoffman quickly caused her to turnover the ball and put UIndy back on the defense. After a scoreless four minutes, the Greyhounds called a timeout to game-plan, but were unsuccessful as Brielle Fannin secured a free position with nine minutes remaining in the third quarter. While Graham logged yet another impressive save, the ground ball was picked up by Schell and UCCS stayed on the attack, but unfortunately could not record a goal before the shot clock expired. With six minutes remaining before the final break, Ghert earned two goals for UIndy, bringing their lead to 10-6. Not long after, Galloway connected with Da Silva, who went on to slam a shot past Gnos onto the lower right corner of the goal. With an enormous amount of momentum on the Greyhound side and 48 seconds left on the clock, Ghert secured UIndy's 12th goal of the game. Josie Leonard won the ensuing draw control and pushed her teammates into Greyhound defensive territory, but the Mountain Lions were unable to score a goal before the whistle blew.
FOURTH QUARTER: UIndy 4, UCCS 2
- 19 seconds passed before Rylie Maready secured her fifth goal of the season and closed the gap to five points. Griswold-Beltz answered with a powerful free position shot, but could not get the ball past Gnos' stick. With 11:50 on the clock, Galloway slipped a pass to Da Silva on a flat run, allowing her to record her tenth goal of the season and a 13-7 lead over the Mountain Lions. After four minutes passed with no goals and a slew of turnovers, Fahlke blasted a shot towards goal and buried the ball into the top left corner of the goal. UCCS won the following draw control, but an unfortunate turnover put them back on defense as Hurry grabbed the ground ball. One minute later, Galloway logged the Greyhound's 15th goal of the evening, just before Allison Hoffman pulled a spin-move and recorded a shot of her own. As things continued to take a downward turn for UCCS, Fahlke cemented UIndy's victory by earning a 16th and final goal. Although Allison Hoffman took advantage of a free position and collected a hat trick, the Mountain Lions could not overcome the deficit and closed out the evening with a 16-8 loss against the Greyhounds.
FINAL SCORE: UIndy 16, UCCS 8
GAME STATISTICS
- The Mountain Lions were led by Allison Hoffman's three goals, seven shots, and two ground balls while Sofia Watts chipped in two goals and three shots.
- Allie Schell logged two assists against UIndy.
- Malaena Michielin led the Greyhounds with four goals, five shots, and three ground balls.
- The Mountain Lions were successful on 13-of-16 clears, while the Greyhounds were successful on 12-of-16 clears. UIndy held the advantage over UCCS on shots (30-21), ground balls (26-22), and draw controls (14-12).
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Allison Hoffman secured her first career hat trick against the Greyhounds and logged her third straight multi-goal game of the season.
- Charlotte Fannin currently leads the Mountain Lions with six goals, three assists, 12 shots, and 13 ground balls.
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions will compete in their first conference game of the season against Westminster at 5 p.m. on Friday, March 13 at WU Dumke Field in Salt Lake City, Utah.
SOCIAL
X –
@GoMountainLions
Instagram –
@gomountainlions
Facebook – /
GoMountainLions
For everything UCCS Athletics, follow the Mountain Lions on social media and stay tuned to
gomountainlions.com.
As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 14 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.
