WINCHESTER, Va. - Shenandoah University earned its first women's lacrosse victory of the 2010 season Tuesday afternoon with a 13-6 non-league win over Division II Shepherd University.

The Hornets (1-2) jumped all over the Rams (0-1) for four goals in the first five minutes and held at least a three-goal lead for the remainder of the contest.

Shepherd, a member of the WVIAC playing in its first-ever NCAA varsity lacrosse contest, got on the board at 23:08 with an unassisted goal from Brooke Jones.

Shenandoah answer this tally with three more of its own in the next seven minutes and eventually took a 10-3 lead into the halftime lockerroom.

The Hornets dominated possession in the opening 30 minutes, winning 13 of 14 draws and taking 21 shots to the Rams eight.

Shepherd did hold a 17-14 first-half advantage in groundballs, but was undone by failing on 11 of its 16 clear attempts.

The Rams played the second half much more even with SU, with each team scoring three goals, and also managed to win three of seven draws and hold Shenandoah to just 11 shots.

For the game, Shenandoah doubled up Shepherd in shots, 32-16, while Shepherd owned 29 of 53 groundballs.

Junior Sara Mucciaro led the victors with three goals and one assist with classmate Jennie Ott adding a goal and three assists.

The Hornets had nine of 11 field starters register at least one point; 12 women in total placed their names on the scoresheet.

Kaitlyn Drake and Nicole Ruane had two goals each for Shepherd.

Shenandoah is back in action on Saturday with a non-league game against Birmingham Southern. This game will be played in Fayetteville, N.C. on the campus of Methodist University and is scheduled for a noon start.

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