CHICAGO, ILL. — After their Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) loss last week, the Concordia University Chicago (CUC) women's lacrosse team were pumped up for another opportunity. Taking a short trip down the road, the Cougars took on the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and defeated the Scarlet Hawks with a score of 20-9.
Inside The Box Score:
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Rylee Orenstein (Walnut Creek, Calif.) led the offense with a total of a season-high six goals and three assists for nine points
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Three other Cougars scored hat tricks: Brynn Beetow (Buffalo, N.Y.) with four goals, Jessica Parker (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) with three goals, and Kelli Pietrowski (Wheeling, Ill.) with three goals
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Kate Johnson (Lincoln, Neb.) and Nina Naes (St. Louis, Mo.) both scored two goals apiece
It was a beautiful day for some Cougar women's lacrosse and CUC quickly got to work against IIT. After Orenstein won the draw control, she quickly got in to score the first goal of the game 1-0. Then after winning the next draw control, the Cougars scored back-to-back goals, one from Orenstein and one from Beetow 3-0. Later on in the first quarter, Kelly Saleh (River Forest, Ill.) would cause a turnover to put the ball in the Cougars hands. Pietrowski would then score her first of the day, with an assist from Saleh, and Parker scored her first as well, going up 5-0. To finish off the first quarter, the Scarlet Hawks would get one goal in to make it 5-1 in favor of the Cougars.
Starting quarter two, IIT would sneak another goal in to make it 5-2. However, the Cougars immediately responded as Beetow scored an unassisted goal at 6-2. The Cougars would get the Scarlet Hawks to turn the ball over and Orenstein scored her third of the day 7-2. IIT started to try and fight back as they scored a goal and made it 6-3, then won the immediate next draw control. However, Orenstein caused a turnover and Pietrowski scored another goal 7-3. Shortly after, Parker would score another to make it 8-3. IIT would score a goal of their own, but Orenstein responded almost immediately, taking it to 10-4 going into the second half.
Coming out of the half, IIT would find themselves with a free position shot opportunity, but Ryan McGee (Chicago, Ill.) kept the Scarlet Hawks at bay. Naes then scored her first of the day, with an assist from Orenstein, to make it 11-4. IIT would slash in back-to-back goals to cut the lead 11-6. However, the next four goals would all be taken by the Cougars. Orenstein would grab another and Johnson scored her first of the day to bring it to 13-6. The Naes had an assisted goal from Pietrowski and Beetow pulled herself one after a free position attempt for the Cougars 15-6. Both teams would score one more, courtesy of Pietrowski, to be at 16-7 going into the final quarter.
IIT would start off quarter four by winning the draw control, but quickly turned it over thanks to some heads up plays from McGee. Beetow, from Orenstein, would score again for the Cougars 17-7. Then back-to-back goals, again, Johnson from Chloe Schaafsma (Lockport, Ill.) and Orenstein would drive the lead all the way to 19-7. The Scarlet Hawks would try to start a rally as they scored two more goals 19-9. However, Parker and Orenstein put the nail in the coffin and finished off the game 20-9. The Cougars defeated the Scarlet Hawks with a final score of 20-9.
The Cougars stay on their road stint as they travel to Edgewood College on Saturday for a 12 p.m. draw. Coverage for all of our sports can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
