Lexington, Ky. – The Transylvania women's lacrosse team turned in their most dominant offence performance of the year, defeating the Saint Vincent College Bearcats 20-16 at Pat Deacon Stadium Sunday afternoon.

The win pushes the Pioneers' record to 8-1 overall, and 2-0 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play, good for sole possession of first place in the conference standings.

Transylvania was led on offense by sophomore midfielder Emma Oliver, and sophomore attack Alexis Rubin, who each scored five goals in the wire-to-wire Pioneer victory.

The trio of junior attack Julia Ward, freshman midfielder Katie Smith, and freshman attack Hannah Fouts added to the Pioneers offense as all three enjoyed a hat-trick.

The game got off to a quick start, as the Pioneers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on a pair of goals from Rubin in the opening six minutes of action.

The Pioneers then began to move the ball around, involving others in the offensive game plan as three more Transylvania goals pushed the lead to 5-0 with 19 minutes remaining in the opening half.

After getting off to a sluggish start, St. Vincent quickly turned the game into a shootout, and the Pioneers and Bearcats traded goals over the final minutes of the half, ending with an 11-6 halftime lead for the Pioneers.

Both teams came out of the intermission firing, beginning with a goal from Oliver just seconds into the half. After allowing a quick St. Vincent goal, Transylvania added two more goals to make the score 14-7 at the 24:35 mark.

After trading goals over the next several minutes, the Pioneers secured their largest lead of the day at 20-10 with just over five minutes remaining thanks to a pair of Oliver goals.

A six-goal scoring burst from the Bearcats made the game interesting late, but the Pioneers' defense held strong to preserve the 20-16 victory.

Transylvania controlled the ball throughout the game, as the Pioneers collected 32 groundballs, in comparison to only 19 for the Bearcats. Additionally, Transylvania was nearly perfect on clear attempts, as the Pioneers converted on 23 of 24 tries in the victory.

Next, the Pioneers will travel to Waynesburg, Pennsylvania to face the Waynesburg University Yellow Jackets on Saturday, April 8. The game is set for a 1:00 start at John F. Wiley Stadium.

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