BEXLEY, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University women's lacrosse team dropped the Ohio Athletic Conference opener 20-10 to Capital University inside Bernlohr Stadium.
Sophomore midfielder Maddie Ray (Cuyahoga Falls/Akron Revere) was the Yellow Jackets' (3-5, 0-1 OAC) leading scorer for the second straight game as she netted three goals. Sophomore attack Alexis O'Neill (Westlake) recorded her first points of the season with two goals and one assist. Junior All-OAC attack Brie Martineau (Strongsville) also added a pair of goals herself.
Junior midfielder Kathryn Walton had her best game of the season with seven goals and three assists for 10 points to lead Capital (4-4, 1-0 OAC). Sophomore midfielder Brooke Delara tallied five goals and one assist while sophomore attack Dana Stover chipped in four goals and one assist. Senior midfielder Makenna Ozenghar was the Crusaders' only other multi-goal performer with a pair of scores.
The first half was evenly matched, featuring three separate ties. Capital jumped out to an early 2-0 lead before Ray answered with two of her afternoon's three goals, tying the game at 2-2. Martineau tied the game at 3-3 once again and then senior three-time All-OAC and Academic All-OAC attack Hannah Albrechta's (Uniontown/Green) netted her lone goal of the afternoon to even things up at 4-4 with 11:49 remaining. Capital proceeded to go off on a 3-0 run in just over one minute of action but the Yellow Jackets responded well with scores from junior midfielder Savanna Jaekle (Lockport, N.Y.) and Ray to come within one of the Crusaders, 7-6. However, Capital got the final say before halftime and took an 8-6 lead into the locker room.
To open the second half, O'Neill found the back of the net for the first time this season and brought BW back within one score. Seven goals in just over seven minutes of action allowed the Crusaders to take a 15-7 lead with 20:51 remaining in the game. Once O'Neill put a stop to the run, the Capital offense added three additional goals to build up to a 10-goal advantage. BW's offense struggled to keep pace with the Crusaders over the final 10 minutes but Martineau and junior All-OAC defender Hannah Stein (Medina/Highland) brought the Yellow Jackets back within single digits. Capital capped off the afternoon with another pair of goals en route to the 20-10 victory.
BW is idle until Saturday, March 30, when the Yellow Jackets travel to Marietta for an OAC game with Marietta College at 1 p.m. on Marietta Field.
