By: Athletic Communications Student Intern Joe Huff '21
WESTERVILLE, Ohio -- In its season opener, the Baldwin Wallace University women's lacrosse team fell to Otterbein University in an Ohio Athletic Conference game by a final score of 17-5 inside Memorial Stadium.
BW (0-1, 0-1 OAC) was led by sophomore midfielder Kaitlyn Hradek (Olmsted Township/Olmsted Falls) as she netted a career-high two goals. Senior midfielder Maddie Ray (Cuyahoga Falls/Richfield Revere) contributed one goal and two assists for a total of three points. The Yellow Jackets also got goals from senior attack Alexis O'Neill (Westlake) and freshman midfielder Deanna Loukas (Tuckahoe, N.Y./Eastchester)
The game started with a flurry of goals. Otterbein opened up the scoring 30 seconds into the game. BW responded with a goal by Hradek at the 26:56 mark. The Cardinals went on 5-0 run to extend their lead to 6-1 with 16:10 left in the first half. The Yellow Jackets cut the lead down to 6-2 when Ray scored on the free position at the 15:22 mark. Otterbein responded with another 5-0 run to increase its lead to 11-2 at 3:08. BW got its final goal of the opening half when Loukas found the back of the cage with 1:28 remaining. The Cardinals closed out the scoring as it netted its last goal with 57 seconds left to take a 12-3 advantage into the intermission.
Otterbein continued its scoring run into the second half as it opened the final period with a 4-0 run tp push the lead to 16-3 at the 7:26 mark. The Yellow Jackets got one of their two second half goals when O'Neill (Westlake) at 5:21. The Cardinals closed out their scoring at the 2:18 mark. BW got the final goal of the game when Hradek tallied her second score of the contest with six seconds left on the clock.
In the cage for the Yellow Jackets, senior All-OAC goalkeeper Ashleigh Hildreth (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Sweet Home) allowed 17 goals on 22 shots with five saves.
BW returns to action on Wednesday, February 24 when it hosts its home opener against the University of Mount Union in an OAC game on Tressel Field inside George Finnie Stadium at 7 p.m.
