VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia - The Virginia Wesleyan University women's lacrosse team opened their season on Wednesday, February 12, when the Marlins played host to the Knights of Southern Virginia University at Birdsong Field in Virginia Beach, VA. The Marlins fell to the Knights 17-12 and move to 0-1 on the season, while SVU moves to 1-0.

GAME INFORMATION
The game was the first of the season for both teams and the first for the Marlins under new head coach Nicole DeSalvia.

INSIDE THE SCORE
The game began with the Marlins getting on the scoreboard first on a goal from Avery Frangelli off a free position shot 2:08 into the game. About a minute later, the Knights scored their first goal of the game knotting the score at one-all. Virginia Wesleyan countered with back-to-back goals from Camryn Gavula and Tori Manahan taking a 3-1 lead by the 24-minute mark. Ten minutes later, Southern Virginia took the momentum scoring three goals in a five-minute window taking the lead 4-3 with 8:30 to play in the half. The Marlins responded with a run of their own scoring five goals in the remaining minutes while keeping the Knights off the board to lead 8-4 at the half. The VWU goals came from Mikayla Callahan, Frangelli, Kayla Gush, Gavula, and Caroline Engle.

Southern Virginia got the first goal of the second half pulling within three of Virginia Wesleyan, 8-5. Frangelli notched her third goal of the game for a hat trick to increase the lead back to four goals. A 3-0 run by SVU pulled the Knights within one, 9-8, with 19:25 remaining on the clock. A pair of Gush goals sandwiched an SVU goal to keep the Marlins ahead 11-9 however the Knights scored three straight taking a 12-11 lead at the 10:44 mark. Gavula collected her third goal of the game-tying the score at 12 with 10 minutes remaining but the rest of the game was all in Southern Virginia's favor as they closed out the game scoring five goals to win 17-12.

VIRGINIA WESLEYAN LEADERS
The Marlins were led by Avery Frangelli, Camryn Gavula and Kayla Gush with three goals apiece. Gavula had a team-high seven draw controls while Tori Manahan and Shaunice Rone each added four. Jordan Moilanen (L: 0-1) picked up the loss in net giving up 15 goals while also making 10 saves. 

SOUTHERN VIRGINIA LEADERS
The Knights were led by Alissa Johnson with five goals on eight shots. Johnson also added four ground balls and eight draw controls. Hannah King, Lauren Thatcher, and Chloe Mitchell each tallied hat tricks with three goals apiece. King also led the team with seven ground balls and added three draw controls.

KEY MOMENT
The key moment of the game came in the final ten minutes of the game when the Knights went on a 5-0 run keeping the Marlins off the scoreboard to win 17-12.

UP NEXT
Virginia Wesleyan returns to action this weekend for a pair of road trips to Marymount and Goucher. The Marlins will meet the Marymount Saints at 1 PM on Saturday while the Gophers of Goucher host the VWU Marlins Sunday at 1 PM.