Sweet Briar, Va. -- The road to the 2023 Old Dominion Athletic Conference field hockey championship will run through Shellenberger Field and University of Lynchburg as the Hornets clinched the No. 1 seed in the tournament and the regular-season championship with a 10-0 win over Sweet Briar Wednesday evening.

The 11th-ranked Hornets remained undefeated in league play, winning their eighth conference game of the season and extending the program's regular season win streak against ODAC opponents to 15.

Marlou Wendriks led the way in Lynchburg's third double-digit victory of the season picking up a team-high three goals to earn the first hat trick by a Lynchburg player this year and the fourth of her career.

Her first goal of the evening carried the sophomore over the 75-point threshold for her career in just 39 total games. Her 17 goals this year tie her season total from the 2022 campaign.

Lynchburg got out to another fast start, jumping out to a 4-0 advantage in the opening period, featuring two strikes from Wendriks and one contribution each from freshmen Renee Van Thiel and Khanyisile Mzizi.

Mzizi assisted on Van Thiel's game-opening goal, giving her three points on the day and marking her sixth-straight game with a point.

Van Thiel picked up the helper on the first of Wendriks' two goals in the frame to secure a three-point quarter as well en route to a career-high five points on the evening.

Jenna Tangires was the lone scorer in the second quarter, reaching the scoring column for the second time in the past three games and pushing the lead to five going into the halftime break.

Van Thiel picked up her second goal of the game and Wendriks her third just five seconds apart in the 38th minute, extending the Lynchburg lead to 7-0 entering the final quarter.

Lynchburg added three more goals in the fourth quarter from Brooke Hyland, Tatum Humphries, and Sydney Metz to push the score to its final 10-0.

Humphries recorded her first-collegiate goal and Metz scored for the second time this season.

Lynchburg amassed 40 shots for the third time this season and their 90 total shots across the past two games are the most since the 2021 spring season.

The Hornet defense picked up its ninth shutout of the season and limited the Vixens to just one shot with none on goal.

Lynchburg has won back-to-back games by 10 goals and holds a 51-4 scoring margin against conference opponents with one game remaining in the regular season.

The Hornets (16-2, 8-0) will travel to Bridgewater on Friday, October 27 at 7 p.m. to wrap up the regular season slate.

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--LYN--