Virginia Wesleyan women's lacrosse team (1-1) used a dominant second-half surge to pull away from Methodist, earning a 12-6 victory after breaking open a tight contest. This victory marked the first head coaching win of Emerson Foster's career. 

Reese Morgenthaler led the team with five goals and one assist, with six draw controls, three ground balls, and caused two turnovers. Kenna Duplechin tallied five goals, had four ground balls, two draw controls, and caused one turnover. Gianna Delevan registered two goals, one assist, two ground balls, and caused one turnover. 

Melissa Dolt recorded the first win of the 2026 season as she played 60 minutes, allowed six goals, and tallied seven saves. 

Methodist struck first to take a 1-0 victory, but the Marlins answered an early first-quarter goal with an unassisted finish from Kenna Duplechin to even the score at 1-1. Virginia Wesleyan took its first lead early in the second quarter when Reese Morgenthaler converted a feed from Creelyn Bastinelli, then struck again minutes later off an assist from Gianna Delevan to make it 3-1.

After a brief 3-0 run by the host to take a 4-3 lead. The Marlins closed the half in dominant fashion. Delevan scored on a man-up opportunity, Duplechin followed with an unassisted goal, and Morgenthaler capped the surge with a buzzer-beater to give Virginia Wesleyan a 6-4 advantage at the break.

The momentum carried into the third quarter as Morgenthaler scored on a free position attempt and Duplechin scored just 15 seconds later to push the lead to 8-4. After two goals from Methodist cut the margin to two, Duplechin responded again with back-to-back unassisted tallies, extending the Marlins' lead to 10-6 heading into the final period.

Virginia Wesleyan sealed the win in the fourth quarter with a pair of man-up goals. Delevan scored early in the frame before Morgenthaler added her final goal of the day to close out the scoring and secure the 12-6 victory.