Southwestern women's lacrosse took a blustery, cold field to open their 2015 home season against George Fox University on Thursday.
The Pirates got off to hot start with two goals in the first two minutes, but GFU quickly answered with a pair of goals to tie the game 2-2. Courtney Ragland, assisted by Allison Schmitt, gave Southwestern a brief lead, 3-2, five minutes in, before George Fox kicked off a 14-2 run to close the first half. Southwestern trailed 16-5 at the break.
SU returned to the field with renewed focus and scored three quick goals and added two more after a Bruin goal to slash GFU's lead to seven, 17-10. In the end, the Pirates just didn't have enough time to complete the comeback, falling 22-14.
Schmitt posted three goals and two assists while Ragland added two goals and a game-high four assists. Jordan Little posted two saves in goal, coming off the attack line to start for the injured first and second string Pirate keepers. Alexa Nakashimada led all scorers with seven goals and three assists.
Southwestern trailed 34-24 in shots and 35-26 in ground balls and posted 34 fouls and 20 turnovers in the loss. The Pirate fall to 2-2 on the year while GFU opens the season at 1-0. The two teams square off again tomorrow at 5 p.m.