Behind a balanced offensive effort, the Royals lacrosse women earned their first victory of the 2021 season on Monday, taking down the Sweet Briar Vixens in a non-conference matchup on their home field. 

The Royals now sit at 1-4 overall heading into the latter half of their season, with Sweet Briar now at 1-8. 

The Vixens were the first on the board in the game. Sarah Schindler made her way around the EMU defenders, finding an open shot and sinking it for the unassisted goal.

EMU answered quickly, winning the draw control after Schindler's goal and getting the ball to Meghan Hickey (Stewartstown, Pa./Kennard-Dale), who created an open shot for herself and sank it into the Vixen's goal to even up the tally early in the contest. 

The two teams traded shots for a while before the Royals went on a 5-0 run, capped off by Morgan Tricarico (Culpeper, Va./Eastern View) finding Hickey again, who then sank her third goal in the first half alone. 

Jess Roberts for the Vixens made a goal in the final minutes of the half, sending the matchup into halftime with a score of 8-4 in favor of EMU.

The Royals led the entire second half, holding off the Vixens from getting a significant run. When the final minutes ticked down, the Royals found themselves in the winning column for the first time this season, winning 14-10.

Hickey led the charge for the Royals in the contest, sinking five total goals on seven shots. Juliana Ghally (Aldie, Va./John Champe) notched four goals on the day and played well on the defensive end, causing six turnovers. 

Tricarico led a balanced offensive attack, earning two goals on six shots with three assists. Bri Garcia-Sanchez (Gettysburg, Va./New Oxford), Myckenzie Davis (Lititz, Pa./Dayspring Christian), and Katie Johnson (Henrico, Va./Mills E. Godwin) each added a goal in the game, as well. 

The Royals hit the road again on Wednesday, Apr. 14, traveling to Randolph College for a 6:00pm game.