NEWBERG, Ore. – Scoring five unanswered goals in the first nine minutes of the game, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges Athenas built up a nine-goal first-half lead and cruised past the George Fox University Bruins 17-6 in a women's lacrosse match on a chilly Wednesday afternoon here at the Austin Sports Complex. 

Starting just over four minutes into the game, Claremont scored its first four goals in the space of 1:37 by four different players and never looked back against the first-year Bruins.  Alexa Nakashimada finally put the Bruins on the board with a goal at the 19:17 mark, but the Athenas reeled off four more goals in the period after that, two in the last 40 seconds, to take an insurmountable 9-1 halftime lead.

Nakashimada scored her second goal early in the second half to cut the margin to 9-2, but that was as close as the Bruins could draw.  Down 13-2 at one point, the Bruins did score three goals in a row midway through the half, with scores by Jessica Adrian and Nakashimada and an “own goal” when Claremont keeper Sara Ginsburg stopped a shot by Nakashimada but then inadvertently slung the ball into her own net. 

Nakashimada had three goals for the Bruins, pushing her season total to a team-leading 22, and Adrian scored twice.  Kaylee Kolin made 14 saves in the net as the Athenas peppered her with 37 shot attempts.  The Bruins were held to only nine shots, Ginsburg making three saves.

Four Athenas - Zoe Pinczower, Anthea Weixel, Cara Cancelmo and Molly O'Donnell - had three goals apiece, and Alex Miele scored two.  Claremont owned an 18-7 advantage in draw controls, 21-15 in ground balls, and 9-2 in free position chances, but committed 33 fouls to 22 for the Bruins.

NEXT: George Fox (3-4) hosts Colorado Mesa University, an NCAA Division II program, Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. … Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (5-3) goes to Linfield College Thursday for a 6:00 p.m. match.