MARIETTA, Ga. --- The fourth-ranked Life University women's lacrosse team came out hot in the first quarter to quickly take control of the game in what ended up being a dominant, 15-3 victory over Sun Conference foe, No. 9 Ave Maria Saturday afternoon on Lupo Family Field.

Life U (8-2, 3-1 SUN) earned its third victory of the season over a top 10 opponent with their defeat of No. 9 Ave Maria (6-6, 2-2 SUN), senior Lacy Legaspi putting in work on the attack to lead the team to victory. Legaspi led all players with five total goals, earning an assist on another score, while also being aggressive with her stick to cause two turnovers. Fellow senior, Maria Arvizu, had another outstanding day on both sides of the field, having a stat line that held four goals, three ground balls, and six caused turnovers. Defensive specialist Leanne Windon matched Arvizu with a game high six caused turnovers, while also pitching in a game high eight ground balls. The oppressive defense of the Running Eagles saw the team hold strong advantages in caused turnovers, 26-16, and ground balls, 27-17, which were turned into advantages on the attack where the team took 28-10 lead in shots.

The Running Eagles got off to a hot start, scoring six unanswered goals in the first 12 minutes. The streak saw three Legaspi goals as well as two scores by Arvizu and a Roxie Beasley shot. The Gyrenes finally scored at the 3:44 mark, but a pair of goals by Nicole Ortiz and Arvizu saw the game nearing running clock, 8-1, by the end of the first 15. Life U's defense continued frustrating Ave Maria in the second quarter, only allowing the visiting team three shots in the period. Beasley's second score and a pair of goals by Legaspi over the period witnessed Life u push the game into running clock, 11-1, as the teams entered the halftime break.

Five minutes into the second half, Ave Maria recorded their second goal of the game to take the game out of running clock, but Arvizu answered back at the 5:39 mark to again see the score differential at 10, 12-2. Little over a minute later, Ortiz scored her second goal  of the game to push the lead to 13-2. The Gyrenes answered back just a couple minutes later, seeing the third quarter come to a close with Life U on top 13-3. The Running Eagles did not give Ave Maria any chance to close the gap in the final 15 minutes of play, only allowing one shot to be taken in the fourth. Life U got new players in on the scoring in the fourth, Peyton Sanders scoring her first goal of the game with 7:47 to go, while Jazzlyn Hollerbach earned her first exactly three minutes later, giving the final score of 15-3.

The Running Eagles hit the road for the next week, starting with a Sun Conference contest at No. 7 SCAD Savannah Thursday at 6 PM.