By Wesley Evans

BUENA VISTA, Va.—Despite four goals on four shots by junior Rainey Whitworth, the Southern Virginia University women's lacrosse team was defeated in its home opener Wednesday evening by a 16-8 score against ODAC opponent Randolph College at The Fields in Buena Vista, Virginia.

Randolph controlled much of the first half when, after a Whitworth goal to make it 4-2 in favor of the Wildcats, it rallied off five straight goals to take a 9-2 lead with three minutes left in the first frame.

Whitworth tallied on one more goal to cut Southern Virginia's deficit to 9-3 heading into halftime.

The Knights (0-4) came out firing on all cylinders in the second half as they scored four straight goals in the first 10 minutes—two by Whitworth and two by Zoe Bradshaw—and found themselves down by just two with 20 minutes left to play.

Randolph (1-1) would go on to quiet the Southern Virginia crowd as it responded with three straight goals of its own over the next two minutes.

Claire Houghtaling then scored an unassisted goal for Southern Virginia, but the Wildcats went on another 4-0 run, putting the game out of reach for the Knights.

Randolph won 20 draw controls compared to Southern Virginia's six en route to outshooting the Knights 35-22 for the evening.

Bradshaw finished with three goals on eight shot attempts while Houghtaling scored the final goal for Southern Virginia.

Taylor Klevenz led Randolph with five goals for the game on 12 shot attempts.

Goalie Cammi Miller made 10 saves in all 60 minutes of play but took the loss in the decision.

Women's lacrosse has just two days off before it begins conference play at the University of Mary Washington this Saturday. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Fredericksburg, Virginia.