Louisville, KY. - Kelly Hitchcock and Antonia Martinez each scored six goals, and the Illinois Tech women's lacrosse team outshot host Spalding 45-25 en route to a 14-8 victory over the Golden Eagles in a matinee match this afternoon in Louisville. The Scarlet Hawks improved to 2-3 on the season. The Golden Eagles fell to 1-3.

The Scarlet Hawks used a 3-0 fourth quarter to salt the match and secure the victory.

First Quarter (Illinois Tech 3 - Spalding 2)
Kelly Hitchcock opened the scoring for the Scarlet Hawks 56 seconds into the opening quarter with an unassisted tally, her 18th of the season. Spalding would tie the game up one minute later when Emma Beach(13) scored unassisted. But 25 seconds later Antonia Martinez scored her 19th of the season to put the Hawks up 2-1, and they would never trail the rest of the match. Martinez added a player-up goal at 4:02, but Mahalia Dominguez scored her own player-up goal at 2:50 to pull the Golden Eagles within one goal at 3-2. Martinez led with two goals for the Hawks in the opening frame.

Second Quarter (Illinois Tech 4 - Spalding 3)
Hitchcock again opened the scoring in the second quarter, taking a feed from Martinez and scoring just 24 seconds in. Kathryn Moore responded for Spalding with an unassisted goal at 10:19, cutting the Hawks lead to 4-3. Martinez would answer with a pair of goals in just 27 seconds, with the second goal coming at the 4:51 mark for a 6-3 Illinois Tech lead. Hitchcock would add to the lead 32 seconds later, assisted by Martinez. Taylor Young and Beach closed out the scoring in the quarter in the final three minutes, pulling the Golden Eagles within two goals at 7-5 entering halftime. Hitchcock and Martinez each with a pair of goals in the second quarter.

Third Quarter (Illinois Tech 4 - Spalding 3)
The Golden Eagles registered the first goal of the second half, with Young scoring her second of the match just under seven minutes into the third quarter, and the Golden Eagles pulled within one goal. The Scarlet Hawks would respond with four consecutive tallies, as Hitchcock scored twice and Martinez and Faith Busche scored solo goals to move the Scarlet Hawks into an 11-6 lead. Beach and Young would each score their third goals of the match in the closing minutes of the third quarter to cut their deficit to 11-8. Hitchcock led with two goals in the quarter.

Fourth Quarter (Illinois Tech 3 - Spalding 0)
The Scarlet Hawks were able to control possession in the final quarter, outshooting the Golden Eagles 10-3, keeping Spalding off the board while expanding their lead to six goals after individual tallies from Hitchcock, Martinez and Mya Huddleston to close out the match.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Antonia Martinez with 6 goals and 3 assists for 9 points, to go along with 10 ground balls and 7 draw controls.
• Kelly Hitchcock with 6 goals and 2 assists for 8 points, while also recovering 15 ground balls, causing 7 turnovers, and collecting 6 draw controls.
• Faith Busche with 1 goal and 1 assist, 3 ground balls and 2 draw controls.
• Isabelle Niebler with 2 ground balls and 2 caused turnovers.

Golden Eagles Watch

• Taylor Young with 3 goals on 7 shots, 3 ground balls, 1 caused turnover and 2 draw controls.
• Emma Beach with 3 goals and 2 draw controls.
• Mahalia Dominguez with 1 goal, 4 ground balls, 1 caused turnover and 1 draw control.
• Isabella Mullins made 24 saves in the contest.

Inside The Box Score

• Illinois Tech had a 45-25 advantage in shots.
• Illinois Tech was 0-2 free position shots, while Spalding converted on 1 of 2.
• Illinois Tech won the draw control battle 15-6.
• Illinois Tech recovered 36 ground balls; Spalding recovered 20.

Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks will next play on Thursday in Danville, Kentucky, on the second leg of their spring break trip, as they will face host Centre at 5:30 PM CT in a non-conference match.