GEORGETOWN, Texas — The Southwestern University Pirates women's lacrosse team had a dominant first half and held steady throughout the second to defeat the Cornell College Rams 17-9.
Hayley Donnelly led the team in total points with six goals and two assists and Johnee Wolter scored five of her career-high six goals in the first half, including three of the final four before the break to give the Pirates a 12-4 lead at halftime.
The Pirates and Rams exchanged goals in the first 11 minutes with Cornell College tying the game at 4-4 on an unassisted goal from Cassidy Greer with 19:19 remaining.
Following a Southwestern timeout with 18:30 left in the first half, the Pirates reeled off an 8-0 run, sparked by back-to-back goals by Donnelly, a pair from Raven Garcia, and Wolter's three goals broken up by one more Donelly goal on an assist from Garcia.
Though Cornell College held a 20-7 advantage in draw controls for the game, the Pirates played suffocating defense, forcing 14 turnovers with five caused by Grace Maynard and three by Julia Tape, who scooped up three ground balls and used her speed to fuel Southwestern University's transition attacks.
Behind them, goalie Mckenna Zinke had a season-high 12 saves and allowed only six goals before giving way to Claire Harding, who produced two saves with the benches cleared after the Pirates scored five of the first six goals to open the second half.
Garcia contributed two goals on four shots with two assists and three ground balls and Natasha Perez-Krause had a goal and two assists. Wolter's six goals game on seven shots with two draw controls won and one ground ball.
With the win, the Pirates improve to 5-2 on the season, dropping Cornell College to 1-1. Southwestern will host Birmingham-Southern on Friday, March 15 at 5:00 p.m.