By Cyanna Rosa

Another gloomy afternoon at the University of La Verne but the Leopards' play was far from dull. In their second conference game of the season, the Leopards hosted the University of Redlands Bulldogs. The Leopards took advantage of penalty shots and minimized exclusions to challenge the Bulldogs until the end. 

The Leopards fell behind in the first quarter, but Abby Nunez made the first points on the scoresheet. On the five-meter attempt, Abby took the penalty shot straight to the back of the net, 1-3. In the second quarter, the Leopards scored a marvelous three points to bring the score down to one point. Nancy Trinh, Maddie Grove, and Tamara Nordstrom (assisted by Olivia Taylor) scored in the second, 4-5.

The third quarter left the Leopards with great confidence early on. Assisted by Alexis Ramirez, Maddie Grove splashed her second goal of the afternoon with a mere 20 seconds passed in play. Thirty seconds later, the Leopards secured a penalty shot and Jassmine Kezman shot and scored at the five-meter. Nancy Trinh continued the scoring streak with her second shot of the afternoon, assisted by Brianna Zapata. Zapata, soon after, dominated a power play; again finding the score at a 1-point difference. To tie the game, Alexis Ramirez added a tally to the scoresheet with a little over two minutes left of the third. Although the Leopards could not secure more scoring plays, the tie game started the fourth quarter. 

Not able to find the net in the third quarter, the Leopards fell to the Bulldogs after a back-and-forth rally, 12-9. 

The Leopards compete in the SCIAC conference again at Las Flores Park against Cal Lutheran this Saturday, March 18th at 11 AM.