Richardson-Pepper Leads Bearcats in Scoring in 15-5 Loss to Sewanee

Salem, Ore. - Willamette Lacrosse dropped a non-conference match to the visiting Sewanee Tigers 15-5 at Sparks Field on Tuesday night.  Shea Richardson-Pepper led the Bearcats with two goals, while Sophie Cendejas, Sydney Davis, and Claire Kisielnicki each added one goal for Willamette.

The Tigers got off a strong start, outshooting the Bearcats 15-4 in the opening quarter and jumping out to an early 2-0 lead before Sydney Davis broke through with a Bearcat goal a little after five minutes into the match.  Sewanee quickly responded with a goal of their own and took a 7-1 lead after the opening quarter.

Sewanee extended its lead in the second quarter by scoring the first three goals until a Claire Kisielnicki goal cut the lead to 10-2.  The Tigers continued to use a swift offensive attack, outshooting Willamette 9-5 in the second quarter and taking a 12-2 lead into halftime.  

Richardson-Pepper got the Bearcats on the board early in the second half, scoring at the 13:27 mark as the Bearcats began to get more opportunities on goal but were unable to capitalize and cut further into the Sewanee lead.  Willamette outshot the Tigers 4-3 in the quarter, but a goal by Sewanee's Marlin Price pushed their lead back to ten at 13-3 at quarter's end.

Sewaneed quickly extended their lead with a goal less than one minute into the final period, but the Bearcats were able to respond with Richardson-Pepper's second goal of the match.  Sophie Cendejas closed out the scoring for Willamette with a goal with just under two minutes remaining in the match to make the final score 15-5 in favor of the Tigers.

Kisielnicki led Willamette in shots with six, followed by Richardson-Pepper with four and Lily Bachiochi with three.  Olivia Austin and Alex Warfel each picked up four ground balls for the Bearcats.

Willamette stays home for their next three matches when they host Berry College at 1:00 pm on Saturday, March 15th, and the University of Wisconsin-River Falls on Tuesday, March 18th at 5:00 pm.  The Bearcats open Northwest Conference play on Tuesday, April 1st, when they host Lewis & Clark College.