BUENA VISTA, Va. — The Southern Virginia University women's lacrosse team stayed undefeated on the season with a 17-10 victory over Birmingham Southern on Friday night in their home opener in Knight Stadium.

Offensively, Chloe Mitchell dominated on the night, tallying five goals on eight shots while collecting seven draw controls. Sydney Sewell debuted in her first game of the season, collecting six points in the form of four goals and two assists. Hannah King added a hat trick to the scoring along with eight draw controls while Lauren Thatcher dished out a game-high three assists. 

On the defensive side of the ball, Madi Pedroza recorded a season-high eight saves while Sewell forced a game-high five turnovers on the ride. Jesse Call anchored the settled defense forcing four turnovers for the team.

Alissa Johnson picked up her sixth goal of the season with the first goal of the game for the Knights (2-0) off of a free position shot. Two minutes later, Chloe Mitchell earned her first point of the night off a Thatcher assist to put Southern Virginia up 2-0 over Birmingham Southern (2-2). One minute later, with 24:21 in the half, the Panthers got on the board, scoring their first goal of the game to make the new score 2-1. 

The Knights used a 5-0 scoring run led by two Tayllor Diem goals to extend the lead to six goals 7-1 with 16:06 remaining in the half. Both teams exchanged points the remainder of the half with Southern Virginia going into the halftime intermission with a 12-5 lead. Sewell led all players with a first-half hat trick. 

At the break, the Knights held the 21-14 advantage on the ground balls while doubling up Birmingham Southern on draw controls 12-6. Southern Virginia outshot the Panthers 22-11 while going 11-for-13 on clears. 

Birmingham Southern came out in the second half scoring the first two goals to cut their deficit to five goals 12-7 with 27:01 left in the game off of goals from Jade Cox and Kathleen Napier. The Knights responded with a 3-0 run of their own with goals coming from Mitchell, King, and Sewell, making the new score 15-7 with 20:14 remaining. The Panthers used a 3-0 run of their own with hopes of making a comeback, making the score 15-10 with 6:12 remaining, but the Knights' defense held strong allowing the offense to close out the game, scoring two more goals both from Mitchell to take the 17-10 victory. 

Southern Virginia finished the game dominating the ground balls 40-25 while controlling 19 of 29 draw controls. The Knights outshot the Panthers 38-24 with 26 being on goal locking in a .68 shot on goal percentage. Southern Virginia executed their game plan going 22-26 on the clears while going .33 percent (3-for-9) on free-position shots. 

The Knights look to keep their undefeated season alive hosting Salem in Knight Stadium on Friday, Feb. 28. The opening draw is set for 6 p.m.