The Oglethorpe women's lacrosse team opened its SAA season Saturday afternoon at the Oglethorpe Track and Field against Centre. However, they were not able to come away with a victory. Centre scored 6 consecutive goals within the first 15 minutes of the game and finished with a 17-5 victory over the Stormy Petrels. Oglethorpe now stands at 1-2 for the season overall and 0-1 in SAA play. 

Just a little under a minute into the first half, Centre tallied their first goal of the game and scored 5 more quickly after, bringing the score to 6-0. Senior attacker Juliana Altman tallied her first goal of the game for the Stormy Petrels with 16:26 left in the half. Shortly after, freshman attack Elena Gierok added another goal on a free position shot, bringing the score to 7-2. With 4:25 left in the half, Altman added her second goal of the game with a free position shot, bringing the score to 10-3 at the halftime break. 

Going into the second half, the Colonels scored within just 30 seconds of the opening whistle. Freshman attacker Glenn Kaiser responded with a free position shot of her own. From here, the Colonels went on a 5-0 run before it was ended by Gierok, who tallied her second goal of the game to bring the score to 17-5. The last 12 minutes of the game was scoreless from both teams. The Colonels held the ball for much of the time and secured the 17-5 win. 

In addition to her 2 goals, Altman scooped up 3 ground balls and caused 2 turnovers. Freshman attacker Balie Mitchum and freshman midfielder Marisa Hall caused 2 turnovers apiece as well. Senior midfielder Michelle Shramek won 4 draw controls. 

The Stormy Petrels were outshot by their opponent 30-14, won 7 draw controls to the Colonels 17, and picked up 11 ground balls to the Colonels 19.

"Centre is a very tough conference opponent," said Oglethorpe head coach Shawna Block. "We kept our heads about us and will continue to improve as a team, day by day."
 
The Petrels will now travel to Fayetteville, North Carolina, to take on Methodist at 1 p.m. Saturday before heading to Montgomery, Alabama, for a showdown against Huntingdon Monday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m. Eastern.