BRIDGEWATER, Va. – The Bridgewater College women's lacrosse team struggled to establish possession against an athletic Washington & Lee team, falling 16-3 on Wednesday at Jopson Field.

Freshman Kristen Stark led the Eagle attack with a goal and an assist, while junior defender Kayla O'Sullivan caused two turnovers and picked up two ground balls.

Neither team scored for the opening 10 minutes as the Eagles defense looked strong during a measured start to the action.

Bridgewater goalie Rachel Gruber (11 stops) kicked things off with a save on Haley Tucker, but Stark's eight-meter chance at the other end was turned away by Ellie Aburn (three saves).

After a Bridgewater giveaway on the clear, Gruber made a great stop down low to deny Tucker's breakaway chance. Anna O'Hara reached in to knock away a free position shot by Lauren Procaccino, but the Eagles again couldn't clear.

With Bridgewater still even at 0-0 after 10 minutes but 2-for-5 on clears, the Generals finally got past Gruber on a hard low shot by Tucker with 19:56 on the clock.

W&L would make it three goals in an even three minutes when Procaccino scored for a 3-0 lead at 16:56 of the first half. Jess Castelo completed a hat trick with 14:36 left for a 5-0 scoreline when her shot bounced off an Eagles defender and over Gruber's shoulder; Castelo then scored again for a 6-0 visitor advantage.

Bridgewater got on the board with 12:18 left in the first half when Claire Palermo-Re completed a tough pass to freshman Sara Yashinskie at the top of the crease.

Stark earned another eight meter chance towards the end of the first half and tucked a well-placed shot into the low corner to make it 9-2 Generals.

Immediately after W&L had taken their first double-digit lead of the day early in the second half, Stark hit a cutting O'Hara to respond for Bridgewater.

Yashinskie appeared to rip a shot off the upper netting later in the second period, but the goal was not given.

Bridgewater falls to 5-5, 0-2 ODAC, while defending ODAC champion Washington & Lee improves to 5-5, 2-0.