The Oglethorpe women's lacrosse team opened its Southern Athletic Association season Saturday afternoon at the Oglethorpe Track and Field against Sewanee and held their own through much of the first half, but the visiting Tigers eventually pulled away in the second, coming away with a 19-3 victory. The loss drops the Stormy Petrels to 1-3 overall on the season, 0-1 in SAA play. 

The Petrels got off to an excellent start in their conference opener. Senior midfielder Juliana Altman scored on a free position shot barely a minute into the game to give the Petrels the early lead. They then doubled that advantage just under three minutes in when senior midfielder Sydney Sparks got loose on a break and fired a shot past the Sewanee goalie to make it 2-0. The Tigers turned things back their way after that, though. They scored nine consecutive goals to end the half and go into the break up 9-2.

Going into the second half, Sewanee put on more steam and tallied eight straight goals to begin the second period. They led 17-2 with 13:42 remaining in the contest. Sparks answered with a free position goal with 10:07 remaining, but the Tigers finished the game with two more for the final 19-3 tally.

Individually, Sparks finished with two goals on five shots. Altman put four shots on goal, finishing the free position shot early in the contest. Senior defender Morgan McGhee led the team with five ground balls and six caused turnovers, while Altman led with three draw controls. Freshman goalie Daniel Hoban made 10 saves on the afternoon.

As a team, the Petrels were successful on 15-of-26 clear attempts and on 2-of-4 free position shots. Ground balls were fairly even, as well, with Sewanee collecting 22 to Oglethorpe's 18. Turnovers were also even, with Oglethorpe committing 25 to Sewanee's 21. The Tigers outshot the Petrels 40-14, however, and outdrew them 16-8. 

"I was impressed with the intensity the team started the game with," said Oglethorpe head coach Marissa Giannerini. "We had trouble keeping the momentum, though. We saw some improvements from individual players that we will build off moving forward."

The Petrels will now head back outside of the conference for the next few games, taking on Huntingdon on Wednesday at the Oglethorpe Track and Field. That game is scheduled to get started at 6 p.m. They'll play Ferrum at home next weekend and Ohio Northern the following week before returning to SAA play on March 5.