The No. 14 Loyola University Maryland women’s lacrosse team extended its winning streak to seven games Saturday afternoon after holding Colgate scoreless during the second half of the Greyhounds’ 10-4 victory at Tyler’s Field.
The Hounds (9-4 overall, 5-0 Patriot League) were led by junior Annie Thomas, who finished with two goals and three assists for a game-high five points. Senior Marlee Paton had two goals and one assist, while junior Sydney Thomas had two goals, three ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Redshirt junior Gretchen Mayer had a career-high four ground balls to spark Loyola’s stellar defensive performance, while junior Taryn VanThof and Annie Thomas added three and two ground balls, respectively.
The Raiders (4-7, 2-3 PL) jumped out to an early lead on goals by Megan Ark and Lauren Gorajek, giving Colgate a 2-0 lead with 24:52 remaining in the first half.
The Greyhounds cracked the scoreboard for the first time with 22:29 left in the half, when junior Kara Burke found Annie Thomas, who fired the pass into the net to cut the Raiders’ lead in half.
The Hounds tied the game with 18:38 remaining on an unassisted goal from Paton. After Colgate regained the lead, Sydney Thomas evened the score at 3-3 on a pass from Paton with 9:25 before halftime.
After Monica White scored on a pass from Alison Flood to give Colgate a 4-3 lead, the Greyhounds would go on to score seven unanswered goals throughout the remainder of the contest.
Behind 4-3, the Hounds stormed into halftime with three straight goals from VanThof, Annie Thomas and Paton, putting them ahead 6-4 at the break.
After a back-and-forth first half, the Greyhounds essentially put the game away early in the second half.
With the Hounds clinging to a 6-4 lead, the Thomas duo contributed to the first Loyola goal of the second half, after Annie Thomas found Sydney Thomas to push their lead to three with 27:55 left in the game.
After winning the ensuing face-off, the Greyhounds scored just 10 seconds later, with junior Hannah Schmitt assisting classmate Molly Hulseman, to give Loyola an 8-4 lead.
Schmitt capped off the scoring parade with a goal of her own just 30 seconds later, giving the Greyhounds a comfortable 9-4 lead after three goals within 40 seconds of one another.
While shutting out Colgate for the entire second half, Loyola rounded out its scoring for the day after sophomore Maddy Blakeman scored on a pass from Annie Thomas with 7:55 remaining, giving the Hounds a 10-4 lead.
Sophomore goalkeeper Molly Wolf played all 60 minutes, converting eight saves while holding the Raiders’ offense scoreless in the second half.
The Greyhounds will look to make it eight straight on Wednesday, April 9, when they host American at 7 p.m.