BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. -- The Lady Railsplitter lacrosse team (1-0) opened their season in style as they led from start to finish in a 19-2 win over Montreat (0-1) Friday afternoon.

Freshman Amara Moss (Woodbridge, Va.) had an impressive start to her career as she netted four goals and won nine draw controls. Three other players had hat tricks on the afternoon. Sophomore Bre'Asia James (Vero Beach, Fla.), last year's leading scorer, picked up where she left off last year with three goals while freshmen Abby Hoskins (Louisville, Ky.) and Jasmin Click (Clermont, Fla.) each had three goals apiece in their first appearance in the Blue and Gray. Hoskins also led the team with four ground balls. Jessie Graham (Aldie, Va.) and Autumn Beddington (Newburgh, Ind.) had two goals each while Casey Kelly (Ellenwood, Ga.) and Mackenzie Liedel (Sevierville, Tenn.) each netted one goal. Kelly also had three assists in the game.

Goalie Shannon Novak (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.) had three saves in 39 minutes of action before she was replaced by Sarah Loveday (Seymour, Tenn.), who gathered in three saves in her 20 minutes in the cage.
 
James led things off as she scored the first goal of the season 25 seconds into the contest. A pair of goals by Click and a goal by Beddington had the Lady Railsplitters up 4-0 by the 28:29 mark of the first half. LMU kept the offensive attack going by winning the next several draw controls and controlling the ball and rolled out to a 9-0 lead by the 23:00 mark. The ninth goal, scored by Hoskins, set a new program record for goals in a game, besting the eight goals scored against Pikeville last season.

Montreat, a first year program, got their first goal in program history as Amber Hill found the back of the cage with 15:37 left in the half. The Lady Railsplitters would gather five more goals by the end of the half to take a 14-1 lead into the intermission.

It was more of the same in the second half as LMU slowed down the tempo and worked on their passing game in order to control the clock. After goals by James, Kelly, Hoskins and Graham, Montreat's Miranda Walker scored the Cavaliers' second goal of the game with 7:14 remaining. Graham closed out the Lady Railsplitter scoring as she scored on a free position shot with 4:17 left in the game. 

The Lady Railspitters will next take the field when they host Young Harris on Feb. 24 at 4:00 pm at the LMU Soccer Complex.