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CHICAGO, Ill. – The Otterbein University women's lacrosse team continued its hot streak Sunday evening, recording a sixth-straight victory with a 20-1 triumph at Illinois Institute of Technology.
The win comes just one day after the Cardinals notched a one-sided 18-1 win against Augsburg College (Minn.) in a neutral site matchup at Aurora University.
Saturday's contest against Augsburg started slow, with both sides remaining locked in a scoreless tie through the opening 10 minutes. Otterbein eventually found its stride, out-scoring the Auggies 6-1 in the 20 minutes before halftime.
The Cardinals put the game way early in the second half, scoring 12-straight times en route to a dominant 18-1 win.
Junior Courtney Hilfinger and freshman Maddy Blackburn each scored four times in the win, marking a season-high scoring game for Hilfinger. Blackburn also snagged a game-best nine ground balls and won seven draw controls.
Freshman Maria Blaszczyk also had her best offensive effort of the spring with three goals while Shannon Back had two.
Otterbein made quick work of Illinois Tech come Sunday, playing to the lopsided victory behind five goals from junior Tory Blatt. Sophomore Annie Kelly netted three goals and four helpers while Blackburn tallied five points (two goals, three assists).
Senior middie Meg Burless had a career day, scoring three times and assisting on two other goals for the highest offensive output for her time at Otterbein.
"I am really happy with how we played during this trip," head coach Stephani Schmidt said. "We had a lot of games in one week and we were able to maintain the same level of intensity throughout. We have a lot players contributing offensively and the defense has worked extremely well together. It's exciting to win six in a row and I hope that we can carry this momentum into the second half of the season."
Otterbein posted a commanding 39-3 shot advantage over the Scarlet Hawks and won 20 of 24 draw controls. Illinois Tech goalie Taylor Thompson made 15 saves while sophomore Karen Brady was forced to make just one stop on the Cardinal side.
Otterbein will return to action Thursday afternoon, traveling to play Kenyon College at 5 p.m.
