DANVILLE, Va. — Junior Victoria Lawson tallied a hat trick in Sweet Briar's season opening game at Campbell Stadium against Averett, which saw the Cougars pick-up a 21-3 victory over the Vixens.

"Our goals today were to focus on communication, trust, working together and honing our system," said head coach Meredith Newman. "I'm so proud of how hard the team played, supported each other and pushed the pace — producing many scoring opportunities and shutting their offense down. The future looks very bright. I cannot wait to see how we look as the season progresses."

Lawson (Shipman, Va.) netted the Vixens' first goal of the season with 14 minutes remaining in the opening period, to cut the Cougars' lead to 7-1. Lawson would score again with 10:47 left in the first period, before the teams headed to the break with a 14-2 scoreline in Averett's favor.

The third Sweet Briar goal of the day after Lawson picked up the rebound from a shot by first-year Ingrid Stacia (Henrico, Va.) and put her own shot past the Averett goalkeeper for her third goal of the afternoon.

Lawson led the Vixens in caused turnovers and draw controls with three and picked up a team-high four ground balls.

Sophomore Caylin Newman (Bedford, Va.), junior Maciel Garcia (Occoquan, Va.) and junior Kierstan Mullins (Richmond, Va.) all joined Lawson with at-least one shot on goal during Saturday's outing. In goal, sophomore Sammy Holton (Arbutus, Md.) tallied 13 saves for the Vixens.

Elizabeth Peasley scored a game-high nine goals for the Cougars.

Eight Vixens made their Sweet Briar lacrosse debut on Saturday, with first-years Sydney Campbell (Amherst, Va.), Sarah Schindler (Charlotte, N.C.), LaLa Martinez (Richmond, Va.), junior Corey Lamas (East Los Angeles, Calif.) and senior Chanel Fridrich, joining Stacia, Garcia and Holton as debutants.

Sweet Briar opens its home slate on February 22, with a 3 p.m. first draw against Salem College at Babcock Field.