By Jami Sponaugle

Monmouth, Ill. - On Saturday, the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks women's lacrosse team secured their third win of the season against the Monmouth College Fighting Scots.

Behind Faith Busche and Kelly Hitchcock, the Hawks (3-5) defeated the Fighting Scots (0-5) 16-4. Busche produced a career high 8 goals during the contest. Hitchcock followed close behind with 6 goals during the victory. 

First Quarter (Illinois Tech 5 - Monmouth 1)

• Busche immediately open up the game with a hat-trick for the Hawks, scoring back-to-back-to-back goals. The first came at 14:22 unassisted as Busche ran with a defender on her and scored with a low bouncing shot. Goal number two came at 13:21 off a Hitchcock assist. With two defender on her, Hitchcock found a wide open Busche who faced up and sent the ball past the Fighting Scots keeper. At 12:55, Busche's third goal came. With the ball, Busche used a screen from Hitchcock to get in front of the goal and score to give the Hawks a 3-0 lead. 

• Hitchcock then got her first of the game at 12:16 from a free position attempt to put the Hawks up 4-0. 

• The Fighting Scots Elizabeth Schmidt scored her first and the Fighting Scots first of the game at 8:47 remaining in the first quarter. 

• The final goal of the quarter came in favor of the Hawks as the duo of Hitchcock and Busch worked together to put the Hawks up 5-1 with 1:39 remaining. Busche assisted the play as passed the ball off to Hitchcock who was making a run in front of the goal. Hitchcock received the pass, turned, and shot the ball into the lower right corner to score the fifth goal of the game for the Hawks. 

Second Quarter (Illinois Tech 7 - Monmouth 1)

• With 13:06 on the clock in the second quarter, Hitchcock secured herself a hat-trick. With one defender on her and another coming, Hitchcock ripped a shot past the goalkeeper to put the Hawks up 6-1 to start the quarter. 

• Busche then found goals at 11:30 and 9:24 for the Hawks. The first came off a free position attempt. During the second goal, Busche beat one defender 11 to head towards goal. As three defenders began to crash in on her, Busche fired off a shot to put the Hawks up 8-1. 

• At 8:45 remaining, Lucy Jorjorian scored off a free position shot. 

• Jorjorian then assisted Busche on the next goal at 7:48. Jorjorian passed the ball to Busche who was able to turn right in front of goal put one past the goalkeeper. 

• Busche immediately followed with another goal at the 7:21 mark with a shot right over the goal keeper's shoulder. 

• Hitchcock put the Hawks up 12-1 with a goal off a Jorjorian assist at 6:21. Jorjorian found a wide open Hitchcock in front of the goal as she was able to place the ball into the back of the net. 

• Schmidt scored her second and the Fighting Scots second of the game with 1:25 remaining. Going into halftime, the Hawks led the Fighting Scots 12-2.

Third Quarter (Illinois Tech 3 - Monmouth 1)

• Schmidt began the third quarter with a goal at 13:44. 

• Hitchcock scored at the 12:37 mark for the Hawks as two defenders were crashing in on her. 

• In a free position attempt, Jorjorian scored her second of the game and gave the Hawks a 14-3 lead at the 10:48 mark. 

• Hitchcock ended the quarter with an unassisted goal at 2:56. 

Fourth Quarter (Illinois Tech 1 - Monmouth 1)

• Schmidt scored the Fighting Scots final goal and her fourth goal of the game with 13:59 remaining in the fourth quarter. 

• The final goal of the game came at 8:34 by Busche as she secured the Hawks 16-4 victory. 

 Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Busche had herself a game with 8 goals and 1 assist. Busche finished with 14 shots, 11 on goal, 3 ground balls, 1 draw control, and 2 caused turnovers. 

• Hitchcock scored 6 goals and had 1 assist. Hitchcock tallied 13 shots, 10 on goal, 4 ground balls, 14 draw controls, and 4 caused turnovers.

• Jorjorian had 2 goals, 2 assists, 7 shots, and 5 on goal. 

Fighting Scots Standouts

• Schmidt scored all four of the Fighting Scots goals. Schmidt finished the game with 9 shots, 7 on goal, and 1 ground ball. 

• Kaylee Doebert provided 2 assists. Doebert had 3 shots, 2 ground balls, and 2 draw controls. 

Inside the Box Score

• The Hawks led the Fighting Scots 17-11 in ground balls. 

• The Fighting Scots committed 29 turnovers, while the Hawks had 12. 

• On clears, the Hawks were 13-of-22 while the Fighting Scots were 12-of-23. 

• Draw controls went in favor of the Hawks 18-6. 

• In total, the Hawks had 41 shots, 29 on goal, versus the Fighting Scots 16 shots, 9 on goal. 

Up Next

The Hawks continue their away game stint on Friday when they travel to Alma, Mich. to take on the Alma College Scots in non-conference action at 4:00 p.m.