Women’s lacrosse: Olivet opens 2015 campaign with 21-11 loss at Lawrence Tech

BEVERLY HILLS, Mich. – The Olivet College women's lacrosse team opened its 2015 campaign with a 21-11 loss to Lawrence Technological University tonight inside the Detroit Country Day School (DCDS) Field House in Beverly Hills.

The Blue Devils raced out to a 5-0 lead with five goals in the first five minutes of the game. Senior Geri Merrell put the first Comets' goal on the scoreboard with an unassisted tally with 24:47 left in the first half. LTU added two more goals before senior Mackenzie Inman scored a goal for Olivet to make the score 7-2 at the 16:48 mark. The Blue Devils scored the final six goals of the opening half to take a 13-2 lead at the break.

After LTU scored 32 seconds into the second half, Merrell netted two goals. The Blue Devils answered with two goals to go back up by 12 points, 16-4. The Comets came back with a 3-0 run – a goal each by Inman, senior Taylor Guarnaccia and freshman Krystin Verran – to make the score 16-7.

LTU then scored three consecutive goals to stretch its lead to 19-7. Olivet scored four of the final six goals of the game for its final margin of defeat.

Despite the loss, Merrell scored five goals and collected five draw controls to lead the Comets. Inman scored three goals, while Guarnaccia had two. Merrell and junior Jessica Doster scooped up four ground balls apiece.

Olivet is in action Friday night back at DCDS for a 7 p.m. game against Hiram (Ohio) College.