Milwaukee, Wis. - With three games remaining on their 2024 schedule, the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks women's lacrosse team traveled north to Milwaukee to take on the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Raiders in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) contest. With just 17 seconds left before halftime, the Hawks (3-10, 0-4) and Raiders (4-6, 2-1) would be sent to the locker rooms early due to lightning in the area sending the game to a weather delay. Once the delay was over, the Hawk and Raiders entered the third quarter tied 5-5. Unfortunately for the Hawks, the third and fourth quarter would go in favor of the home team. At the final whistle, the Hawks fell to the Raiders 10-7. 

First Quarter (MSOE 2 - Illinois Tech 3)

• The Raiders Vayda Flower opened up the contest with an unassisted goal at 13:48. 

• At 11:08, Antonia Martinez scored the Hawks first goal to tie the game at 1-1. Receiving the ball behind the net, Martinez took on her defender 1v1, pushing her way around and in front of the goal. Throwing off her defender, Martinez stopped her run to turn back towards goal before placing a shot right above the Raiders goalkeeper. 

• About three minutes later, Martinez put the Hawks on top with a goal off a Kelly Hitchcock assist. With no defenders pressuring her, Hitchcock looked for an open pass to make, eventually finding Martinez standing wide open near the inside of the goal. Martinez received the high pass. While stumbling, Martinez made it past a defender before firing off a close range shot into the upper 90 corner of the net. 

• Then, just 7 minutes and 15 seconds into the contest, Martinez had herself a hat-trick with her third goal of the game. Faith Busche assisted the goal when she found Martinez making a run across the goal. With multiple defenders crashing in on her, Martinez received the ball, turned, and shot the ball into the back of the net, scoring and putting the Hawks ahead of the Raiders 3-1.

• The Raiders would come within one at 2:42 when Flower scored off a free position shot. 

• At the end of the first quarter, the Hawks led the Raiders 3-2 

Second Quarter (MSOE 3 - Illinois Tech 2)

• Hitchcock scored at 13:03 to begin the second quarter and put the Hawks back ahead by two goals. Martinez assisted the goal when she gave a high pass over top of the Raiders defense. With a defender on her back, Hitchcock quickly received the ball and faced up towards goal to send her shot right past the Raiders goalkeeper. 

• At 11:05, Alana Perry assisted Flower for her third goal of the game from the Raiders to bring them back within one of the Hawks

• The game would go on to be tied at 7:54 when Lily Johnson scored for the Raiders off a Flower assist. 

• Busche assisted the Hawks next goal at 3:25 when she slotted a perfectly placed pass to a running Hitchcock who was making a splitting run through the Raiders defense and towards the goal. Continuing her run after receiving the pass, Hitchcock was able to turn her body and send her shot into the opposite upper 90 corner. Hitchcock's goal put the Hawks ahead 5-4. 

• Johnson then scored her second of the game for the Raiders, this time off a Jenna Kent assist at 1:22 to tie the contest up at 5-5. 

• During a Hawk timeout with 17 seconds remaining in the quarter, lightning would be detected in the area, sending the game into a weather delay. 

• The weather delay sent the game into halftime with the two sides tied at 5-5

Third Quarter (MSOE 2 - Illinois Tech 1)

• Both teams would take shot opportunities during the beginning of the third quarter, but the first goal of the quarter didn't come until the 7:49 mark when the Raiders Flower scored her third goal of the game, this time off an Emily Runey assist.

• Martinez then scored at 4:55 to tie the contest back up, this time at 6-6. In the pouring rain, Martinez took on multiple defenders before ripping off a shot into the lower corner of the net. 

• Before the end of the quarter at the 2:17 mark, the Raiders went back on top Helen Bechthold scored off a Joce Katte assist. 

• At the end of the third quarter, the Raiders led the Hawks 7-6

Fourth Quarter (MSOE 3 - Illinois Tech 1)

• To begin the fourth quarter, the Hawks tied the game for one final time when Hitchcock scored to earn herself a hat-trick. Making a run through the defense and towards goal, Hitchcock received the ball, continued her run, and placed her shot just under the Raiders goalkeeper. Here the game would be tied at 7-7. 

• In a man-up situation, Johnson scored her third goal off a Runey assist at the 10:05 mark. 

• Alana Perry then scored for the Raiders with another man-up goal. Perry was assisted by Flower. 

• The Raiders Katte scored the final goal of the game with 1:13 remaining unassisted. 

• At the final whistle, the Raiders defeated the Hawks 10-7. 

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Antonia Martinez - 4 goals, 1 assist, 7 shots, 6 shots on goal, 2 ground balls, 1 caused turnover, 4 draw controls

• Kelly Hitchcock - 3 goals, 1 assist, 5 shots, 5 shots on goal, 5 ground balls, 3 caused turnovers, 3 draw controls

• Faith Busche - 2 assist, 1 shot, 1 shot on goal, 3 ground balls, 3 caused turnovers, 1 draw control 

Raiders Standouts

• Vayda Flowers - 4 goals, 2 assists, 11 shots, 8 shots on goal, 6 ground balls, 4 caused turnovers, 1-for-1 in free position shots 

• Lilly Johnson - 3 goals, 9 shots, 6 shots on goal, 2 ground balls, 1 caused turnover, 3 draw controls 

• Joce Katte - 1 goal, 1 assist, 1 shot, 1 shot on goal, 3 ground balls, 1 caused turnover, 1 draw control

• Alana Perry - 1 goal, 1 assist, 4 shots, 2 shots on goal, 4 ground balls, 8 caused turnovers, 1 draw control 

• Helen Bechthold - 1 goal , 2 shots, 2 shots on goal 

• Megan Lacina - Winning goalkeeper. 60 minutes played, 5 saves 

Inside the Box Score

• MSOE led the Hawks in shots and shots on goal 30-13 and 19-12 respectively

• The Hawks finished with 9 saves while the Raiders had 5

• In turnovers, the Hawks committed 29 while the Raiders committed 23 

• The Hawks were 14-for-16 in clears and the Raiders were 16-for-16

• MSOE led Illinois Tech in ground balls 30-20

• The Hawks edged the Raiders in draw controls 11-10

Up Next

The Hawks will host their final home contest of the 2024 season on Tuesday, April 23rd, when they welcome the Aurora University Spartans to Stuart Field for a NACC match-up. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM.