Lexington, Ky. – The Transylvania women's lacrosse team used a second-half surge to pull away and defeat the Hanover College Panthers, 18-7 at Pat Deacon Stadium on Wednesday night.
 
The victory propels the Pioneers to 7-4 overall and 2-0 in Heartland Collegiate Lacrosse Conference play. Hanover suffered its first conference loss at the hands of the Pioneers to drop to 1-4 overall and 1-1 in HCLC play.
 
The Pioneer attack opened with a blitz as Salem Carlow took the opening draw straight to the goal and fired a shot for a 1-0 advantage 10 seconds into the game. Mandi Rider slotted home a goal and dished out two assists while RJ Johnston knotted a hat-trick at the 18:47 mark in the first half to propel Transylvania to a quick 5-0 edge.
 
Hanover provided resistance to the Pioneers as they as the Panthers closed the half on a 5-2 run. Abbey Peterson and Johnston tallied a pair of goals to limit the damage and secure a 7-5 lead for the Pioneers into halftime.
 
Transylvania asserted its dominance immediately upon the resumption of play with Carlow delivering a pair of goals to complete her hat-trick while Johnston found the back of the net two more times to complete her six-goal performance on the night.
 
Peterson fired a trio of goals to collect her second half hat-trick and complete a 7-0 Transy run, lengthening the Pioneer advantage to 14-5 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the contest.
 
The Panthers continued to battle as they were able to net two late second-half goals. Linley Dawson took a feed from Carlow and calmly put it away to get on the scoresheet. Peterson earned her career-high fifth goal while Rider and Carlow continued their offensive attack by collecting goals to finish the night with a 18-7 victory for the Pioneers.
 
Peterson finished with a career-high five goals to go along with a 2 of 3 showing on free position shots and seven ground balls.
 
Johnston paced the Pioneer offense by collecting six goals, two ground balls, and causing one turnover.
 
Carlow delivered an all-around performance by notching four goals, delivering three assists and winning eight draw controls.
 
The Pioneers will look to maintain their momentum as they travel to Franklin, Indiana to take on the Franklin College Grizzlies in another HCLC tilt on Sautrday, April 14 at Faught Stadium. Opening draw is scheduled for 10:00 AM.
 
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