Women’s lacrosse team falls to Aquinas, 20-6, in season-opener

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College women's lacrosse team fell to Aquinas College, 20-6, in its home- and season-opener today at the Cutler Athletic Complex in Olivet.

The Saints scored the first seven goals of the game before junior Mackenzie Inman (Union City) tallied an unassisted goal for the Comets with 18 minutes left until halftime. Aquinas found the back of the net twice in a 27-second span to stretch its lead to 9-1.

Junior Geri Merrell (Battle Creek/Lakeview) scored a goal for Olivet. The Saints then scored four straight goals for a 13-2 lead. Both teams scored twice in the final five minutes and 28 seconds of the opening half to make the score 15-4 at halftime.

The Saints added a goal at the 27:12 mark of the second half. Junior Taylor Guarnaccia (East Lansing/Haslett) scored two consecutive goals to cut the Comets' deficit down to 16-6. Aquinas tallied the final four goals of the game.

Merrell led Olivet with three goals, while Guarnaccia had two and Inman had one. The Comets won nine draw controls, including four for Inman and three for Guarnaccia. Freshman Xavier Vance (West Bloomfield) played the entire game in between the pipes and collected five saves.

Olivet hosts Otterbein (Ohio) University Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m.