ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — Averett University women's lacrosse opened the season with a 20-1 road win over N.C. Wesleyan University on a rainy Saturday, giving first-year head coach
Erin Murphy a victory in her debut.
Averett (1-0) wasted little time taking control of the game against their former USA South Athletic Conference counterparts as graduate student
Elizabeth Peasley scored four of the Cougars' eight goals and assisted on two others in the opening period.
Up 8-0 entering the second quarter, Averett continued to find success against N.C. Wesleyan (0-1) as sophomore
Faith Bowlin joined Peasley in the hat trick club with two of her three goals on the day as the Cougars took a 14-0 advantage into halftime.
The Cougars added three goals in the third quarter and three more in the fourth to finish off the season-opening win. N.C. Wesleyan's lone goal came in the final two minutes of the contest.
Peasley led the team with seven goals, two assists and three ground balls, while Bowlin had three goals and two assists. Seniors
Morgan Dearing,
Raven Felder and
Kelsey Steckroth each scored two goals as well. Felder had a team-high four assists and Steckroth notched one assist. The Cougars also got a goal from sophomore
Rachel Rios and freshmen
Amanda Antoine and
Emma Miller. Junior goalkeeper Kaylee Joblin had two saves in net.
Peasley, who is one of 11 players in Division III women's lacrosse history with 300 career goals, moved up to No. 9 on the all-time scoring list on Saturday. After entering the season with 312, she now has 319 career goals after passing Worcester State University's Ann Clark's 316 goals.
Murphy guided the Cougars to a win in her first game at the helm after serving as an assistant coach with the program for nearly all of its first five seasons after Averett brought women's lacrosse back as a sponsored sport.
Averett returns home to face Brevard College at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 4.
