Central, SC – Southern Wesleyan took down the Lees-McRae Bobcats in their Conference Carolinas opener on Saturday afternoon in a 14-8 final score.
 
The Warriors collected 34 shots and 27 shots on goal in the victory over the Bobcats.  Kelsey Hawkins led the team with nine shots, eight of which were on goal.  Tabitha Beecher followed with eight shots and six shots on goal.  Hawkins led the Warriors with four goals while Beecher had three goals.  Both Jairy Sandoval, Jesse Soles and Haylee Cureton recorded two goals.  The Warriors had five assists with Beecher leading the team with four.
 
Southern Wesleyan collected 13 draw controls.  Graduate student Jairy Sandoval led the team with nine draw controls.  The Warriors caused 16 turnovers with both Sandoval and Kelsey Hawkins leading the team with four.  Southern Wesleyan had 19 ground balls in the game.  Kaeleigh McDaniel played all sixty minutes in goal for the Warriors and collected 21 saves.
 
 
 
Game Vitals
 
Final: Southern Wesleyan 14, Lees-McRae 8
 
Records: Southern Wesleyan (2-5 / CC 1-0) Lees-McRae (0-6 / CC 0-1)
 
 
 
How It Happened
 
The Warriors charged out of the gate in the first quarter as Jairy Sandoval took a pass from Tabitha Beecher to give Southern Wesleyan a 1-0 lead.  They continued to push ahead as Yael Echeverria put the ball into the back of the cage to extend the Warriors to a 2-0 lead.  However, the Bobcats scored back-to-back goals by Haley Donovan and Genesis Lutsky to tie the game up.  Southern Wesleyan regained the lead as Tabitha Beecher put the ball into the back of the cage.  The Warriors continued to push ahead as Kelsey Hawkins, Beecher and Haylee Cureton took the ball toward the cage, but Emily Davidson saved the ball to keep Southern Wesleyan from extending their lead further.  Beecher took a pass from Hawkins to score their fourth goal of the game to give the Warriors a 4-2 goal lead.
 
Southern Wesleyan continued to push ahead as with just under fourteen minutes left in the quarter, Tabitha Beecher passed the ball over to Kelsey Hawkins, who put the ball into the cage to extend the Warriors lead to 5-2.  The Warriors maintained the intensity as Jairy Sandoval scored her second goal of the afternoon seconds later to put Southern Wesleyan ahead by four goals.  Lees-McRae continued to fight with goals by Kalbie Grassett and Genesis Lutsky.  However, the Warriors would not relent as they continued to attack the net and Hawkins scored once again.  A foul in the eight meter allowed Jesse Soles to take a free position shot.  Soles scored to give the Warriors an 8-5 goal lead at the half.
 
The Bobcats increased the intensity in the third quarter on a goal by Kalbie Grassett.  However, the Warriors regained their three goal advantage with just over thirteen minutes left in the quarter on a goal by Haylee Cureton.  Southern Wesleyan attempted to distance themselves further from the Bobcats on shots by Ansley Burroughs and Kelsey Hawkins, but Emily Davidson and the Bobcats' defense continued to protect the net from the Warriors attacks.  Cureton scored once again to put the Warriors ahead 10-4.  Back-to-back goals by Kelsey Hawkins and Tabitha Beecher allowed the Warriors to extend their lead to six goals with just over a minute left in the quarter.
 
Southern Wesleyan continued to up the intensity with shots by Jairy Sandoval and Jesse Soles, but Mckenzie Mellen saved their attacks.  The Bobcats countered as Nim Castro scored, but seconds later Kelsey Hawkins scored to allow the Warriors to regain a six goal advantage.  With just over six minutes left, Kalbie Grassett scored for the Bobcats.  Lees-McRae took several more shots on goal, but Kaeleigh McDaniel and the Warriors saved their attacks to give the Warriors a 13-8 goal victory.
 
 
 
What's Next
 
Southern Wesleyan will travel to Mount Olive, NC on March 10 to take on the University of Mount Olive Trojans at noon.  They will remain on the road on March 12 to take on the Converse Valkyires at 1 p.m. and then to Murfreesboro, NC on March 19 to take on the Chowan Hawks at 1 p.m.  The Warriors will host the Erskine Flying Fleet on March 26 at 1 p.m.