Women’s lacrosse: Comets soar past Defiance, 14-4

OLIVET, Mich. – Seniors Taylor Guarnaccia and Mackenzie Inman each had five points and seniors Brittany Hayes and Geri Merrell each scored four goals to lead the Olivet College women's lacrosse team to a 14-4 win over Defiance (Ohio) College tonight at the Cutler Athletic Complex in Olivet. In addition, Guarnaccia broke the Olivet single-game record with 16 shots, while tying the single-game record with nine draw controls.

The Comets wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, as they scored the first seven goals of the game. Hayes found the back of the net twice off passes from Guarnaccia and Inman in the first seven minutes and 35 seconds. Inman then netted a free-position goal at the 21:37 mark.

Merrell scored three straight goals, with the first coming off a pass from Guarnaccia and the second off a feed from Inman to make the score 6-0. Guarnaccia capped the scoring run with a free-position goal with 16:03 left in the opening half. After the Yellow Jackets scored, Inman scored twice and Guarnaccia once for a 10-1 Comet lead at halftime.

Merrell found the back of the net with an unassisted tally one minute and 34 seconds into the second half. Defiance scored less a minute later before the Comets pushed their lead back to 11 points, 13-2, on goals by Hayes and Guarnaccia. Following another Yellow Jacket goal, Hayes netted her fourth goal of the game with 7:28 left in the game. Defiance scored the final goal with a little more than two minutes remaining.

For the game, Olivet out-shot the Yellow Jackets, 41-9, including a 26-8 advantage in shots-on-goal. Guarnaccia led the way with her single-game record 16 shots. Merrell finished with nine shots, while Hayes and Inman had seven shots apiece. In between the pipes, sophomore Xavier Vance earned the win. She made three saves, while playing 42 minutes and 48 seconds. Junior Hailey Bond completed the game in goal and made one save.

Olivet now travels to Texas for three games, beginning Thursday evening with a 5 p.m. game against University of Dallas. The Comets will then play two games Saturday and Sunday at Southwestern University. On Saturday, Olivet plays University of Puget Sound (Wash.) and Sunday, it plays the host Pirates.

NOTES: The previous record for shots was 14 by Inman vs. Calvin on April 8, 2014. Ana Gomez also had nine draw controls vs. Pacific (Ore.) University on April 21, 2013. The Comets tied the single-game team record with five assists, as they also had five vs. Albion on April 11, 2012. With her five points, Guarnaccia moved past the 100-point plateau for her career. She now has 93 goals and nine assists for 102 points. Merrell is Olivet's all-time leading scorer with 132 points (122 goals and 10 assists).