Chicago, IL - The lady Panthers (now 0-3) came up short in a tightly contested battle against the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks.

As the game got under way, neither team was willing to give an inch defensively. After a ten-minute stalemate, Hanover opened up the scoring by taking a two goal lead behind an assisted goal from freshman attackman Quinn Cherry, assisted by senior midfielder Anissa Weber, and an unassisted goal scored by senior midfielder Abby Mensing. The Scarlet Hawks responded with two back-to-back goals of their own to tie it up at 2-2 in the final seconds of the first quarter.

The second quarter got off to a quicker start as the Panthers saw an extra-man opportunity in the first two minutes, and cashed in yet again behind another Quinn Cherry goal, her second of her 2025 freshman campaign, assisted again by senior midfielder Anissa Weber.

After another two minutes of gameplay Hanover found another scoring opportunity, this time with freshman attackman Quinn Cherry assisting sophomore midfielder Kaitlyn Madden for her first goal of 2025 - but the Scarlet Hawks refused to exit the half quietly. Illinois Tech was able to string together a three goal run midway thru the second quarter, and ultimately took a one goal lead at 5-4 heading into the break.

The second half was more of the same back-and-forth action. Hanover's senior midfielder Abby Mensing went on to score four more goals for the Panthers as their lone second-half goal scorer, one of which was assisted by freshman attackman Quinn Cherry, increasing her point total to four on the afternoon. Mensing went on to lead the Panthers in goals, ground-balls, caused-turnovers, and draw controls on the day.

The Panthers went on to fall 8-12 at the final buzzer. Hanover will take the field again this Saturday, March 15th, for their home-opener against the Muskingum Fighting Muskies at 11:00AM EST.

Statistical Standouts for the Panthers From Today's Contest Include:
Abby Mensing (Sr, MF) - 5 G | 6 GB | 3 CTO | 3 DC
Quinn Cherry (Fr, A) - 2 G | 2 Ast | 4 Pts
Anissa Weber (Sr, MF) - 2 Ast | 4 GB | 2 CTO
Emma Williams (So, GK) - 8 SV | 29 SF