VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia - The Virginia Wesleyan University women's lacrosse team picked up their first win of the season over the Wildcats of the Cazenovia College 17-10 on Wednesday evening at Birdsong Field in Virginia Beach, VA. The Marlins move to 1-5 on the season, while the Wildcats are now 0-1.

INSIDE THE SCORE
The game began with the Wildcats finding the scoreboard first with a goal three and a half minutes into the game. Virginia Wesleyan found its first goal on a shot from Tori Manahan off an Avery Frangelli pass 15 seconds after the Cazenovia goal to knot the score at one goal each. Cazenovia went on a 3-1 run over the next seven minutes taking a 4-2 lead with 19:49 left to play in the opening half. The Marlins kicked things into gear and scored six consecutive goals taking the lead, 7-4, and never relinquishing it the remainder of the game. The Wildcats did add one goal right before halftime putting the score at 8-5 at the break. 

Natalie Dunn started the 6-0 run with a goal off the Frangelli pass at 18:47. Mikayla Callahan followed less than a minute later with the game-tying score. A goal by Kayla Gush with 16:28 on the clock gave the Marlins the lead while Manahan, Mikayla Szudera, and Shaunice Rone gave VWU three insurance goals. 

Dunn added her second goal of the evening 91 seconds into the resumption of play in the second half off a pass from Szudera. Cazenovia climbed within two, 9-7, following a pair of goals before Dunn tallied her third goal of the night again matching up with Szudera to take a 10-7 lead. Manahan scored off a free position shot putting VWU up 11-7 before a Wildcat scored at the 18:06 mark closing the lead to three goals again. 

Virginia Wesleyan again went on another run, this one a 5-0 run, that saw Rone, Frangelli (3), and Callahan all score in the run giving the Marlins a 16-8 lead. Two Wildcat goals sandwiched a Manahan goal and saw the final score reach 17-10 with the Marlins emerging the victors in their first win of the season. 

VIRGINIA WESLEYAN LEADERS
The Marlins were led by Tori Manahan with four goals on eight shots on goal. Manahan also tallied eight draw controls and three groundballs. Avery Frangelli and Natalie Dunn both joined Manahan with hat tricks of their own with Shaunice Rone and Mikayla Callahan each recorded two. Callahan led the team with eight ground balls, five draw controls, and three caused turnovers. Jordan Moilanen (W, 1-4) picked up the win in between the pipes playing all 60 minutes giving up 10 goals on 15 shots faced. 

CAZENOVIA LEADERS
The Wildcats were led by Callie Andolina and Breana Howe with three goals each. Nora Farmer added two more while tallying a team-high four draw controls, which tied with Howe who also had four draw controls. Amanda Drazek (L, 0-1) took the loss giving up 17 goals on 32 shots faced while making 15 saves. 

KEY MOMENT
The key moment of the game came in in a 12-minute window during the first half that saw the Marlins score six unanswered goals taking an 8-4 lead.

UP NEXT
Virginia Wesleyan returns to action on Friday, March 13, when they host the Merchant Marine Academy women's lacrosse team for an evening contest at Birdsong Field. First draw is set for 5 PM between the Marlins and Mariners.