CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- The Lee women's lacrosse team made program history, winning their fifth consecutive game, 15-10, over the University of Montevallo on Sunday afternoon from the Multi Sport Complex.

"Today we played for others," said head coach Derrel Martin. "Today's game was our annual Headstrong Foundation fundraiser game. In each of our games, our players are braiding their hair in various styles as a way of reflection, honor, and memory of those affected by cancer."

Dariana Blanton scored a game-high six goals on eight shots to go with a ground ball and a caused turnover to spark the Lady Flames. Brittney White threw in four goals of her own and Shayna Ryan completed the hat trick to round out the three-goal scorers. Avery Schenk pitched in with a pair of goals of her own to finish the Lee scoring.

It was a back-and-forth affair in the first half with Montevallo drawing the first goal of the contest a man-down after Elizabeth Taylor drew a yellow card for a check to the head. The Falcons gathered a stop and a quick counter-attack allowed Eleanor Bruce to find the back of the net off a Sadie Bopst assist.

Blanton answered on the next possession from a Kaylyn Dillon dish to even things back up on the man-up opportunity to even things up. Lee rattled off two more goals by White and Schenk to take a 3-1 advantage with 17:15 to go in the half. 

A pair of Hailey Wilcox goals evened knotted things back up at three with 12:25 remaining and the teams traded goals before White scored a go-ahead goal with 25 seconds to take a 6-5 lead into the break.

The Falcons tied things at six just 46 seconds into the second half and the teams traded goals before the Lady Flames exploded for a 7-0 run for over 20 minutes of the second half.

Blanton got it going with 24:41 left and scored four of the seven goals, including a man-up goal with 8:41 to cap off the spurt. Ryan and two White goals rounded out the goals in the run. 

"We usually do not make in-game adjustments very well due to our youth, but today we were able to adjust our defense, offense, and draw play to our advantage," praised Martin.

Montevallo cut the lead to five with 2:47 to go but Blanton answered back just 26 seconds later to finish the Lee scoring and take a 15-9 advantage. Rylee Horton scored the final goal of the contest with 1:11 left and the Lady Flames were able to run out the clock to come away with the win.

"It was our first GSC game in two years and it is very important to get started off right. Our scouting of Montevallo told us they were fast in transition and that was certainly the case. Their goalie cleared the ball fast and had to hustle back to get back on defense," said Martin.

Anja Kuys, Wilcox, Horton, and Bruce all scored two goals each for the Falcons. Bopst and Jodi Morawiec had two assists each while Bruce came away with six draw controls. 

Miranda Laird got the start in goal making six saves but allowing nine goals in 45:15 of action. Rachel Rose got tagged with the loss allowing six goals and making only four saves in 14:45 in goal.

Ryan rounded up seven draw controls and White contributed with four of her own as Shannon Galloway had a trio of them. 

Kaleigh Bernard got the start and lasted 28:03 making allowing five goals and making two saves. Caleigh Smith came in for the final 31:57, picking up the win, making nine saves, and allowing five goals.

Lee came away with advantages in shots (33-24), shots on goal (25-21), saves (11-10), and draw controls (14-12). Lee finished the contest 16-for-21 on clear attempts and came away with 16 ground balls.

"Today we played for each other. It was a huge team win with lots of selfless play," concluded the third-year head coach.

Lee will be back in action next Saturday as they take on Division I opponent Presbyterian at the Multi Sport Complex beginning at 2:00 p.m.