BRIDGEWATER, Va. – The Bridgewater College women's lacrosse team opened Old Dominion Athletic Conference play with a win on Saturday, defeating visiting Sweet Briar College 17-4.

After a slow start, the Eagles opened the game up with five goals in a span of 3:33 late in the first half.

Playing a man down, Jenna Devilbiss was saved but knocked the rebound in for a 6-2 lead. Claire Palermo-Re and Meredith Wimbrow scored 21 seconds apart to push the gap to 8-2.

Less than a minute later, Palermo-Re found Jesse Colligan, and Wimbrow also scored in the final minute to give Bridgewater a 10-2 lead at halftime.

Sweet Briar's Allison McLamb was all over the field, double-teaming the Eagles on every play and totaling seven caused turnovers in the first half (plus five fouls that nearly added to that total).

Turnovers were an issue for Bridgewater in the first half, as the Eagles gave it away 20 times and were successful on just 9-of-16 clears. In the second half, BC would be successful on all but one clear attempt.

Devilbiss finished with a game-high five points (four goals, one assist) to go with four ground balls, six draw controls and four caused turnovers. Also totaling five points were Wimbrow (five goals) and Palermo-Re (three goals, two assists).

Defensively, senior Brittany Lanahan caused four turnovers, while Kayla O'Sullivan finished with four ground balls. Sophomore goalie Rachel Gruber saved seven shots while allowing just four goals.

After an early Sweet Briar possession, Hennessy cleared the ball and then scored off a spin move for Bridgewater's first of the day. Annie Sullivan found Devilbiss cutting in all alone for a 2-0 scoreline.

The Vixens countered after a McLamb caused turnover, but Gruber made a good save on Genny Kelley.

Wimbrow had appeared to make it 3-1 with a nice transition goal, but the Eagles were offsides. Seconds later, they broke in transition again and Jesse Colligan found Hennessy for a two-goal lead.

The Eagles were playing down following a yellow card and Gruber came up big again to save Dayze Gaulin. Caroline Fletcher then hit the crossbar on the the counterattack for Bridgewater.

Lanahan cleared with 8:56 remaining and assisted Wimbrow for a 5-2 lead. Gruber stopped a free-position shot from Reba Gagne to protect the advantage.

With 13:37 remaining in the second half, Colligan won a draw control and blew past the entire SBC defense for a 17-3 lead. The Eagles stalled for most of the remainder of the contest.

Bridgewater (4-3, 1-0) will look to continue a positive start in ODAC play with a Tuesday trip to Randolph. Sweet Briar falls to 3-4, 1-1 ODAC.

This was slated to be the final time a Vixen team plays on Bridgewater's campus after last month's announcement that the college will close this summer after 114 years.

The first varsity women's lacrosse game in Bridgewater history was a 17-5 victory over Sweet Briar on April 18, 1968. Sweet Briar, which started a lacrosse club in 1914, is believed to have won the first ever collegiate women's lacrosse game in the United States, defeating William & Mary 12-1 in the spring of 1941.