HUNTINGDON, Pa. - The Wilkes University women's lacrosse team suffered their first loss of the season in their Landmark Conference opener against the Juniata College Eagles 19-6 Saturday afternoon.

The Colonels are now 8-1 (0-1 Landmark) on the season, while the Eagles improve to 2-5 (1-0 Landmark) with the win.

Wilkes took an early lead in this game thanks to an unassisted Karinne Podwika (Duryea, PA/Pittston Area Senior) goal after just four minutes of action. Juniata tied the game at the 5:39 mark of the first thanks to an Elayna Stubbe goal, and they took the lead 30 seconds later when Ella McGlaughlin found the back of the net.

With 4:48 left, Alexis Guttilla (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph by-the-Sea) evened up the game again on an assisted goal that was set up by Madyson Martinez (Owasso, OK/Owasso). That made it a 2-2 game going into the second quarter. 

Two quick goals by the Eagles gave them a 4-2 lead at 13:25, but Guttilla's second goal of the game made it 4-3 over a minute later. From there, Juniata responded with five goals to close out the half, with three of them coming from McGlaughlin.

That put the Eagles up 9-3 at halftime, and Devyn Mauger scored their 10th goal just two minutes into the third quarter. Morgan Hettesheimer (Monroe Twp., PA/Tunkhannock Area) stopped the bleeding with a goal one minute later to make it 10-4, but Juniata scored seven-straight goals after that to put the game away for good. 

Guttilla led the Colonels with three goals in the contest, while Podwika, Martinez, and Taylor Sparks (Monroeville, NJ/Woodstown) all had two-point games. Davyn Bonvie (Wyoming, PA/Dallas) took the loss in net with 11 saves and 19 goals allowed.

McGlaughlin finished the game with six goals and one assist for the Eagles, and Mauger stepped up with three goals and two assists of her own. Goalkeeper Caoilinn Heatley got the win with seven saves and four goals allowed in 45 minutes of action.

Wilkes remains on the road for their next game on Wednesday, March 25 against the Susquehanna University River Hawks. The game will begin at 5 p.m.