Chicago, Ill. - The Illinois Tech women's lacrosse team kicked off their season with a pair of matches against Wisconsin Eau Claire this weekend, and the Blugolds took home both wins, defeating the Scarlet Hawks 19-10 and 16-4 on Saturday and Sunday respectively at Stuart Field. The Scarlet Hawks start the season 0-2. The Blugolds improved to 4-0 on the season.

In Saturday's game, the Scarlet Hawks fell behind 3-0 in the first quarter before Shanie Scoles scored late in the opening frame to head into the second quarter trailing 3-1. The Hawks pulled within one goal twice in the second quarter, trailing 6-5 after an unassisted goal by Scoles at 3:21. The Blugolds responded with three unanswered goals in the final three minutes, including a pair by Becky Goetsch, to enter halftime leading 9-5. The teams traded goals to start the third quarter before the Blugolds went on a 4-0 run to build a 14-7 lead. Scoles and Brooke Rowan tallied goals in the final two minutes to head into the fourth quarter trailing 14-9. The Blugolds outscored the Hawks 5-1 in the final quarter to take the match, 19-10. Scoles finished with seven goals in the contest along with two ground balls and three caused turnovers. Rowan tallied three goals, three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Caitlin Davitt faced 37 shots and made 18 saves for the Hawks.

In Sunday's game, the Blugolds dominated from the start, opening an 8-0 lead in the first half before Scoles scored at 4:11 in the second quarter to get the Hawks on the board. Sammy Burns scored her fourth of the first half at 3:07 to give the Blugolds a 9-1 lead at halftime. In the third quarter, the Blugolds scored the first three goals to extend their lead to 12-1. The Hawks responded by scoring the next three goals, capped off by an Ella DeCurtis free-position goal at 13:22 of the fourth quarter to cut their deficit to 12-4. The Blugolds closed out the game with four unanswered goals to take the match, 16-4. Scoles finished the contest with a pair of goals and four ground balls. Rowan and DeCurtis each had one goal, with DeCurtis adding two ground balls.

Scarlet Hawks Watch

• Scoles finished the weekend with nine goals, six ground balls, 14 draw controls and four caused turnovers
• Rowan finished with four goals, seven draw controls, three ground balls, and two caused turnovers
• DeCurtis had one goal, two assists, three ground balls and two caused turnovers

Blugolds Watch

• Burns had 11 goals over the weekend
• Goetsch had six goals
• Alexie Romanelli had five goals
• Riley Domagala had four goals
• Alexandria Shea finished with 17 saves and a 55% save percentage

Inside The Box Score

• The Hawks finished with 44 turnovers for the weekend; the Blugolds turned the ball over 24 times
• The Blugolds outshot the Hawks 73-43

Up Next

• The Scarlet Hawks are idle until Wednesday, March 23rd, when they travel to travel to Franklin, Indiana to face the Grizzlies at 5pm CT.