The University of Mary Washington women's lacrosse team broke open a tight contest and cruised to a 14-7 victory over the University of Lynchburg on Friday afternoon at the Battleground. The Eagles improve to 9-8 on the season.

UMW opened the scoring, with Erin Steinberg starting the proceedings at 11:41 on an assist from Clare Madden. After Lynchburg tied the score seconds later, UMW went back on top at 8:25, as Katie Blair scored on an assist from Kayla Sarazin. Lynchburg scored again at 3:39 to tie the score at 2-2, and the game stayed tied until the first quarter final horn.

In the second, the Eagles streaked to four straight goals. Blair scored three straight, with assists going to Samantha Stachowiak and Meredith Farley, and an unassisted score in between. Lynchburg creeped back closer with two scores to end the second, and the Eagles led, 6-4, at halftime.

In the third, Lynchburg drew to within one goal, before Blair scored with a player down. Lynchburg cut the lead to 7-6, but the Eagles would score the next six goals to build a healthy margin. Sarazin and Rebecca Pullen each scored on a man-up chance to end the third, which gave UMW the momentum to start the fourth strongly. Blair started the fourth with a goal on a Sarzin assist at 13:51, and Carly Lanzarotta and Madden followed unassisted. Erin Steinberg capped the run at 7:27 on another Sarain assist. After a Lynchburg tally, Sarazin capped the scoring on the day with a man-down goal on a free position shot with 1:58 remaining.

The Eagles led in shots, 33-25, while Lynchburg held leads in draw controls (15-10) and ground balls (16-15). UMW goalkeeper Reilly Miller made 12 saves on the day.

Blair led UMW with six goals, while Sarazin scored twice and added four assists.

UMW will be back in action on May 4, in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference semifinal, at either Christopher Newport or Salisbury, pending the teams' meeting on Saturday.