ROANOKE, VA – Freshman Clara Blaine tallied her first career hat trick as the Wilmington College women's lacrosse team recorded its first win of the season, beating Hollins, 11-9, Thursday in non-conference action.  

HOW IT HAPPENED

•       Wilmington came out strong in the first period scoring eight goals on twenty shots. Blaine (Lebanon, OH/Lebanon) and freshman Rachel Reinhart (Hilliard, OH/Hilliard Davidson) were both able to score two goals in the first leading the impressive offensive attack.
•       Sophomore Megan Wieloch (Canton, MI/Plymouth) had a strong first period amounting eight saves and only allowing four goals on 14 shots.
•       Hollins came out strong in the second period scoring five goals.  Wilmington traded goals in the first fifteen minutes, but not before Hollins scored three straight in the last six minutes of the game.
•       Wilmington was able to hold on for the win in the second half by playing good defense and causing multiple turnovers.  The caused turnovers led to three more goals in the second period, with freshman Hannah Gratsch (Milford, OH/Milford) and freshman Rachel Brown (Lebanon, OH/Lebanon) adding to their two-goal total on the night.
•       The top offensive performers of the evening for Wilmington were Blaine with three goals on seven shots, and Gratsch with two goals and one assist on three shots.  Both Brown and Reinhart each added two goals as well.
•       Defensively, freshman Summer Wilbur (Manchester, OH/Manchester) led the way causing four turnovers and picking up four ground balls. 
•       Goalie, Megan Wieloch allowed 9 goals while totaling 13 saves on the evening.  She also caused four turnovers and picked up eight ground balls

COACH'S QUOTES

•       "There were a lot of highlights from the match today with two of them being Clara Blaine's first collegiate hat trick and Kayla Ogan's first collegiate goal," said coach Bree Galloway
•       "Megan Wieloch also had a great evening especially in the last minutes of the game making some crucial saves.  It was great to get our first win of the season and the continued improvement really showed this evening," said Coach Galloway.

WHAT'S NEXT
Wilmington (1-3) returns to action 3:00 p.m. Saturday, March 18th, competing at home against the Hiram Terriers in non-conference action.