CHICAGO – The University of Chicago women's lacrosse team scored 10 times in Saturday's opening quarter and raced past Illinois Wesleyan University by a 24-6 score on Senior Day.

The No. 20-ranked Maroons (14-1 record) maintained their grip atop the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) standings at 5-0. The Titans fell to 5-11 overall (3-2 CCIW).

Before Saturday's game, UChicago honored its seniors on the field with their families. As the first class of recruits in program history, the Maroon seniors made their debut in 2019 and have posted a four-year cumulative record of 43-6 (.878 winning percentage). The nine-member class includes Sarah Bloomquist, Kathleen Harrigan, Lally Johnson, Audrey Kaus, Abbey Pouba, Ali Sheehy, Adriana Shutler, Annie Wang and Lauren Zhang.

The Maroons put their undefeated home record up against the only conference team they had not yet defeated (0-3 all-time). UChicago boasts a perfect 28-0 mark on the Stagg Field turf.

That unblemished record was extended thanks to another explosive burst of offense. After IWU scored first in the opening two minutes, UChicago got rolling in a big way with 10 goals in a 12-minute span. First-year Olivia Escoffery and junior Anneke Pulkkinen both scored twice in that time.

After taking a 10-1 lead through the first quarter, the Maroons looked sluggish in the second quarter as IWU began to win the hustle battles and were more aggressive defensively. The Titans scored twice early in the period and held UChicago off the scoreboard for nearly nine minutes. But the home side recovered to net the last three goals of the half to take a 13-3 lead into halftime.

The third quarter was dominated by UChicago with six unanswered goals to go up 19-3. With the running clock on its side, the Maroons kept the petal to the metal with five more tallies in the fourth quarter. The team's 24 goals marked the sixth time this season that UChicago has topped 20 in a game.

UChicago's aggressiveness was demonstrated by its school-record 50 shot attempts, versus only 11 by IWU. Draw controls continued to be a source of strength with a 23-9 margin in favor of the Maroons. Ground balls were similarly one-sided at 21-9. The home team only turned over the ball nine times versus 22 by the visitors. IWU converted half of its clears (10-20) while UChicago were successful on 10 of 12.

Escoffery maintained her recent offensive surge with four goals and one assist. Pulkkinen matched her in the goals category with four of her own. Sophomore Camille Kuwana put up three goals, one assist and four draw controls. Pouba netted a hat trick, while Sheehy and sophomore Lulu Hardy tallied two goals each. Junior Hailey Klinger was an active presence defensively and snatched up a career-best eight ground balls while causing two turnovers.

First-year goalie Rachel Keefe got the win to improve to 14-1. She made one save with three goals allowed in the first half. Junior Emily Feigen entered in the second half and collected three saves with three goals allowed.  

NEXT GAME:

• Wednesday, April 27 @ 6:00 PM – North Central College at UChicago