After battling rainy weather for most of the month, the GPS varsity lacrosse program finally kicked off its 2019 season Thursday with a 15-4 win over region foe Ooltewah. With goals from eight different players, the Bruisers used a balanced attack to jump out to a 10-goal lead just before halftime and cruised to its third straight win over the Owls. Evie Jackson led all scorers with three goals and one assist.
The Bruisers started out hot with four goals in the opening three and a half minutes of play.
Anna Beth Coffman, Annie Sanford, and Jackson all scored for the Black and Blue before midfielder Reagan Ziegler rifled home a free position shot with 21:42 left in the opening period that gave GPS the four-goal advantage.
Jackson would notch her third goal of the half with 12:51 on the clock to give the Bruisers a comfortable 7-0 cushion. When Alex Center struck the back of the net off an assist by senior Caitlin O’Brien, GPS led by double digits with only a few seconds remaining in the opening stanza. The Owls made a brief run in the second half before Bruiser attacker Clayton Watson closed out the scoring for the game with an unassisted goal for GPS.
O’Brien had a game-high eight draw controls. Rebecca Gilchrist finished with two saves in the goal for the Bruisers as GPS used three different goalies during the game.
Scoring:
Ooltewah 1 3 - 4
GPS 12 3 - 15
Records: GPS (1-0), Ooltewah (0-1)