NEWARK, Del. - - An eight goal first quarter led the Wilmington University women's lacrosse team to a 22-12 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday at the WU Athletics Complex.
The win is the fourth straight win for the Wildcats to start the season, the first time the team started 4-0 since the 2008 season.
The Wildcats scored the first six goals of the game and led 8-1 after the first quarter. Maddie Day scored twice in the first quarter, giving her 100 career goals and becoming the 11th player in program history to reach the milestone.
Five different Wildcats scored the first five goals of the game and then Makenzie Stritzinger scored her second of the day to make it 6-0. St. Thomas Aquinas got on the board with 2:01 left but then Campbell Heller and Maddie Day ended the quarter with goals to make it 8-1.
The teams split the first four goals of the second quarter and then the Wildcats got back-to-back goals from Ella Baynes to make it 12-3 with 7:45 left in the half. The teams traded the final four goals of the half with Lauren Gresham scoring the final goal to make it 14-5 at the half.
The Spartans (0-2) started the third quarter by scoring three of the first four goals to close to within 15-8. The Wildcats were able to regain momentum the rest of the way, scoring the final four goals to retake a 19-8 lead after the third quarter.
St. Thomas Aquinas won the fourth quarter, 4-3, but it was too little too late as the Wildcats were able to hold off any late game comeback.
Maddie Day led the Wildcats with six goals on Saturday while Campbell Heller scored five goals and added two assists for seven points. Taylor Lambeth scored four goals and led with three assists while Ella Baynes finished with a hat trick and four points overall.
The Wildcats are back in action on Tuesday when they host Shepherd at the WU Athletics Complex. The opening draw is set for 3:00 p.m.