Lexington, Ky. – The Transylvania women's lacrosse team captured its second straight conference tournament crown with a 20-0 victory over the Hanover College Panthers in the championship game of the Heartland Colligate Lacrosse Conference tournament at Pat Deacon Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The victory is the Transylvania's seventh straight and sends the Pioneers women's lacrosse program to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.

Leading the way for Transylvania was Courtney Pontious, who tallied eight points on seven goals and an assist, and collected a career-high 12 draw controls. Also contributing to the Pioneers' attack were Brianna McCulley, who recorded four goals and an assist, and Salem Carlow, who scored three goals and notched two assists in the victory

The Pioneers seized control of the championship game from the Panthers nearly immediately as Pontious and Rachel Johnston each scored a pair of goals over the first eight minutes of play to give Transylvania a 4-0 lead.

While Hanover was unable to create a counterattack, the Pioneers' offense continued to fire on all cylinders. The Pioneers added 10 more goals in the half, including a final strike from Pontious with just three seconds left on the clock that put Transylvania ahead 14-0 at the half. 

In the second half, the Pioneers continued to hold the Panthers at bay while slowly increasing their lead to the final margin of 20-0.

The Transylvania defense stifled Hanover throughout the contest, holding the Panthers to just five shot attempts and forcing them into 25 turnovers.

Behind the stellar Transylvania defense, goalkeepers Mackenzie Dent and Hayle Hall combined for four saves and no goals allowed in 60 minutes of action.

The Pioneers will discover their first-round opponent in next week's NCAA Tournament when the tournament bracket is announced in the NCAA selection show, streamed live on NCAA.com tomorrow night at 9:30 p.m.

For more on Transylvania women's lacrosse, follow @TransyWLax on Twitter