EDWARDSVILLE – Taylor Sparks (Monroeville, NJ/Woodstown), Alexis Guttilla (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph by-the-Sea) and Nina-Lily Veale (Franklin, TN/Franklin) combined for 13 points to lead the Wilkes University women's lacrosse team to a 10-6 non-conference victory over visiting Gwynedd Mercy University Thursday afternoon at Schmidt Stadium.
 
Wilkes improved to 2-0 following the home win while Gwynedd Mercy dropped to 0-2 on the young season. It marks the first time Wilkes started a season 2-0 since the 2016 season when they began 5-0 to begin the year.
 
Wilkes led 3-2 after a back-and-forth first quarter. Guttilla tied the game at one with 13:17 on the clock hanks to a pass from Sparks. The teams traded goals again as Veale scored her first of the contest unassisted at 8:55. Emily Jackson (Wyoming, PA/Wyoming Area) then gave the Colonels their first lead of the game scoring off a Sparks pass with 6:36 left in the first quarter.
 
Wilkes kept its advantage into the half as team squad score one goal in the second frame. After Gwynedd Mercy tied the game at three, Guttilla put the Colonels ahead again notching her second strike of the game off a Giavana Famiano (Cape May, NJ/Middle Township) assist with 3:52 left until the break.
 
Wilkes then outscored Gwynedd Mercy 6-3 over the final 30 minutes of play including a two-goal advantage in the fourth quarter. Guttilla completed her hat trick at 9:34 of the third and Veale gave Wilkes its biggest advantage up 6-3 with another goal at 9:19. After a Griffins goal, Sparks found the back of the net to keep Wilkes ahead 7-4 after three quarters.
 
Gwynedd Mercy cut the lead to two ay 7-5 early in the fourth quarter, but three straight goals from Wilkes put the game out of reach. Sparks began the rally with an unassisted goal followed by Veale's third of the game and Guttilla's fourth with less than six minutes to play.
 
Sparks led the attack with six points on two goals and four assists. Guttilla added four goals and Veale three goals. Jackson contributed one goal and one assist.
 
Rebecca Gordon topped Gwynedd Mercy with five points on four goals and one helper.
 
Davyn Bonvie (Wyoming, PA/Dallas) earned her second win in goal for Wilkes finishing with four saves.
 
Wilkes remains idle until Saturday when the Colonels continue their home stretch to begin the season with a non-conference game against Byrn Mawr College at 1:00 p.m. at Schmidt Stadium.