Dariana Blanton broke the program record for career goals and the Lee Women's Lacrosse team rolled to a, 19-8, win over Tusculum University in their season opener on Wednesday afternoon from the Ray Conn Sports Complex.

Avery Schenk got the scoring started in the first quarter just under three minutes in and the Pioneers answered two minutes later to even things up.

Blanton then gave the Lady Flames the lead with the record setting goal and Lee (1-0) never looked back. The goal started a, 4-0, run to stretch the lead out.

Tia Tuininga trimmed the lead to three but a Hannah Vecsey goal from a Brittney White pass at the buzzer gave the hosts a, 6-2, lead after one.

Tusculum (0-1) had their most productive period in the second, scoring the first two goals to cut the lead to two but that would be the closest they could get.

Lee rattled off the next four goals to extend the lead to six. The guests put in two more but found themselves with two in the penalty area in the final two minutes of the half and the Lady Flames responded. Blanton found the back of the net with 1:42 to go and Megan Trout followed it up off a pass from Schenk to double the Pioneer score at the break.

The Lady Flames outscored the guests, 5-2, in the third frame, and pushed the lead to 10 on a Shayna Ryan goal off a Blanton assist just under six minutes into the final quarter to force the running clock and Schenk finished the scoring with 7:05 to go for the, 19-8, victory.

"Opening day, you figure out what you didn't practice enough and what you need to practice more. We had some rough spots, but overall, we chased after it pretty hard and controlled the flow of the game," said head coach Derrel Martin.

Lee controlled the flow from the beginning out drawing the Pioneers 17-13, scooping up more ground balls (21-14), firing off more shots (37-20), and had two more clears while committing six less turnovers.

Blanton led all scorers with seven, also passing 100 career goals in the process. Vescey and Schenk had three goals each for a pair of hat tricks. Brittney White led all players with 12 draw controls, eclipsing her 200^th career draw control. Kelsey McGowen, Blanton, Schenk, and Megan Trout all had three ground balls each to lead the hosts.

Kaleigh Bernard got the start in goal and went the first half allowing six goals and made five saves on the 11 shots she faced. Caleigh Smith finished the contest giving up two goals while making five saves.

Tuininga led the guests with four goals on seven shots. Kylie Marek had six draw controls and Lucy Brewer and Bethany Thomas had three ground balls each.

Caroline Monroe was the starting keeper for the Pioneers and gave up 12 goals in the opening half. Taylor Floyd came in at the halftime break and made seven saves with allowing seven goals.

The Lady Flames will be back in action on Saturday as they take on Lenoir-Rhyne at the Ray Conn Sports Complex for Professor Appreciation Night. First draw is scheduled for 4 p.m.