WEST POINT, Ga.— The Montreat women's lacrosse team continued its impressive year with yet another Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) victory on the road Saturday afternoon, defeating the Point University Skyhawks by a score of 22-9 in Georgia to improve to 9-5 (4-2 AAC) on the season.
 
Five different goal scorers powered the Cavaliers out front early in the first quarter. Izzy Knight and Dovie Yates combined on the initial tallies, while Kate Gauntlett, Hannah Jarboe and Aleea Bone added scores to make it 5-1 just over five minutes into the opening frame.
 
Yates quickly notched her second goal, and Gauntlett and Knight followed suit as the Cavaliers' lead expanded to seven with 4:24 remaining in the initial quarter. Mina Hicks and Gauntlett rounded out a dominant first period for the Cavs, who led 11-3 through 15 minutes of action.
 
Though the Skyhawks registered the first goal of the second, the visitors rattled off the ensuing five goals through the sticks of Yates, Jarboe, Bone and Gauntlett, who had two of the handful. Outscoring Point 5-1 in the latter period of the first half, Montreat held a distinct 16-4 advantage with two frames left.
 
At the break, the Cavaliers attempted 34 shots to PU's 13, including a 27-10 edge in shots on target. Montreat forced 16 turnovers by the home team, while surrendering only 12 possessions itself. Despite the lopsided scoreline, both squads seemed fairly level in the categories of ground balls (16-15) and draw controls (12-10), in which the Cavs grabbed slight edges.
 
The Skyhawks recorded four of the five goals in the third quarter as Jarboe got the lone tally for the visitors with 2:52 remaining in the frame, but the Cavaliers were not deterred heading into the final quarter with a 17-8 lead.
 
Montreat went on another five-goal scoring spree, this time to expand its advantage to 14 with 6:03 left in the competition. In the stretch, Bone collected two goals, while Gauntlett, Hicks and Jarboe concluded the run.
 
Success came in sharing the ball around the Cavalier offense as 19 of the team's 22 goals were assisted. Six players did all the offensive damage with each player amassing at least four points on the day. Gauntlett captained the offense with 11 points (7g, 4a), and Yates followed with nine, including a game-high five assists. Bone notched four goals and four helpers to go with Hicks' five-point afternoon (2g, 3a). Jarboe (3g, 1a) and Knight (2g, 2a) wrapped up the scoring for Montreat's explosive offense.
 
On the defensive side, Carlie Henning registered 11 saves in net for the Cavs on 23 shots. Knight picked up a team-best seven ground balls, while Jarboe and McKinley Edmondson each grabbed five. Six different Cavaliers forced a turnover, led by Edmondson, who had two.
 
Overall, Montreat doubled up Point in shot attempts (48-24) and placed 15 more shots on target than the Skyhawks (35-20). The Cavs were on the right side of many statistical categories, including ground balls (26-24), draw controls (18-17), turnovers (23-19) and caused turnovers (8-6). PU found its success when fouled by the Cavaliers, scoring on four of its seven free position shots, while Montreat went 1-for-9 from the arc.
 
Women's lacrosse returns to action with its final AAC contest of the year, a home matchup against the Reinhardt University Eagles next Saturday. Game time is slated for 2:00 p.m. at Pulliam Stadium.