MISENHEIMER, N.C. - - A big 11-0 first quarter helped pace the Wilmington University women's lacrosse to its second straight victory to open the 2024 season, defeating Pfeiffer, 24-2, on Sunday at Lefko Field.
Sunday started a four-game road trip for the Wildcats (2-0), as they will play two more in the state of North Carolina before returning north. They outshot Pfeiffer (0-3), 38-7, on the afternoon.
Ella Royer had a point in three of the first four goals for the Wildcats, scoring the game's opening goal before assisting on a Riley McQuaide goal and the team's fourth goal from Anastasia Giannoulis. Makenzie Stritzinger got on the board with a man-down goal before Giannoulis scored her third of the quarter, another man-down goal, to make it 6-0. Ella Royer scored the next two goals for the Wildcats before they added three more in the final two minutes of the frame, getting goals from Lauren Gresham, Alea Javorowsky, and a free position shot at the buzzer from Amelie Gamache.
The Wildcats scored the first three goals of the second quarter before Pfeiffer got on the board with 7:34 to play. That broke a streak of 82:26 scoreless minutes to start the season by Katie Vindigni and Wilmington defense. The Wildcats scored four more goal in the second, including one form Maddy Bassoff to beat the buzzer to go into the halftime break with an 18-1 lead.
Riley McQuaide and Michaella Cook scored in the third quarter and then Tristan Holdsworth and Mia Schultz got in on the scoring in the fourth quarter before finishing off the 24-2 victory.
Ella Royer collected 10 points in the game, scoring five goals and adding five assists while also finishing with a team high four ground balls. Amelie Gamache scored three goals to go with two assists while leading the team with nine draw controls. Anastasia Giannoulis and Makenzie Stritzinger scored three goals and added an assist for four points each while Stritzinger led the team with four caused turnovers. Katie Vindigni made two saves in goal for the win.
The Wildcats now travel to Spartanburg, South Carolina, where they will take on Converse on Wednesday night. The night game against the Valkyries is set for a 6:00 p.m. opening draw.