SALISBURY, N.C. — The Catawba College women's lacrosse team has opened its season with two regulation wins for the first time in program history, securing the second on Saturday in a 13-4 defeat of Southern Wesleyan at Shuford Stadium.

TEAM STATS
- Catawba (2-0) totaled 25 shots including 21 on goal, doubling the marks by SWU (0-2) who fired 10 attempts of which nine were on target
- A combined 58 turnovers made for a rough day on both sides, but the Warriors were affected most as they led the count 31-27
- The Catawba Indians made life in transition hectic for SWU, limiting the Warriors to a .538 clearing percentage (14-for-26) while recording a commendable .750 (15-for-20) clip
- The blue and white also boasted advantages of 25-16 in ground balls and 11-7 in draw controls
- Ashlea Nieland saved five of the nine shots she faced to snare her second career victory in the crease while Ava Lombardi turned in an eight-save register for the Warriors

INDIVIDUAL STATS
- Mary Sorvillo stacked up five points on three points and two assists, opening the year with a second straight hat trick
- Maddie Fox practiced hat trickery in her first career game, finding the twine on each of her three on-target deliveries
- Skylar Mullin and Ava Stanza chipped in two goals and one takeaway apiece 
- Layne Macknik logged her first career blast in addition to two assists in a three-point performance for the rookie
- The trio of Audrey Adelsberger, Sarah Maier and Allison Filosa recorded two caused turnovers each with Filosa also being one of four players with three ground ball pickups
- Sorvillo and Mullin led the way in draw controls with four and three, respectively

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
- Stanza and Sorvillo scored via free position shots on two of the Catawba Indians' first three possessions
- Catawba was whistled for a green card in the eighth minute, giving the Warriors a man-up opportunity that they capitalized on 26 seconds into the penalty
- Abby Shuren connected with fellow New Yorker Macknik off a failed SWU clear prior to a quiet end to the period that saw the Catawba Indians kill two man-down situations

Second Quarter
- Carrying possession over from the opening quarter, Catawba drew a free position try in the first minute which set up Mullin to rip a shot into the back of the net
- Another unsuccessful clear led to a free position opportunity for the blue and white, this one taken and scored by Emily Better
- Less than a minute later, the floodgates began to open as Better assisted Sorvillo to extend the lead to 6-1
- SWU responded with a second man-advantage blast and a free position score, creeping back into striking distance
- Stanza and Fox sent feeds from Kylie Harris and Sorvillo, respectively, into the twine for an 8-3 edge at the half

Third Quarter
- Fox made her second notch on the scoresheet shortly after the halftime break with help from Harris
- Soon after killing off a one-minute green card, Catawba fended off a SWU scoring chance with a Nieland save that turned into a yellow being issued against the Warriors; however, two greens against the Catawba Indians nullified the man advantage
- Turnovers on four consecutive Warrior possessions resulted in a Madison Widecki goal with 38 seconds to play in the quarter for a 10-3 count on the scoreboard

Fourth Quarter
- It took just 20 seconds for Fox to complete the hat trick with the assist credited to Macknik, who had the helper on Mullin's score minutes later
- Sorvillo tossed in an unassisted bullseye, threatening to initiate a running clock for the final 6:40
- SWU called timeout to set up a play in the final two minutes, successfully doing so in put-back fashion in the waning moments without making a dent in the Catawba Indian lead that finalized at 13-4

POSTGAME COMMENTS

UP NEXT
The Catawba Indians play away from home for the first time next Saturday, Feb. 21, at Barton. Opening draw is slated for 1 p.m. in Wilson, N.C.