Lynchburg, Va. -- The University of Lynchburg field hockey team left no doubt Wednesday afternoon using seven different scorers to cruise to an 8-0 victory over Virginia Wesleyan on Shellenberger Field.
The eight-goal disparity is tied for the largest margin of victory this season for the 14th-ranked Hornets, who have now won eight-straight contests, outscoring their opponents 33-3 across the win streak.
Lynchburg has forced six shutouts on the season and four in its past five games, allowing just one goal over that span.
Olivia Van Metre led all scorers with a pair of goals in her first start of the season as the junior forward recorded her second multi goal game in the past three outings.
Lynchburg used six penalty corners in the first 7:30 of the game to churn out the first six shots of the contest and keep the ball in their attacking third.
The sixth attempt resulted in the first goal of the day, as Renee Van Thiel recorded her second goal of the season off a helper from Ryleigh Cameron to give the Hornets a lead they would not surrender.
After the game's opening score, the offensive floodgates opened for Lynchburg, as they rattled off five more goals over the next 20 minutes of game time to take a 6-0 advantage to the break, tied for their largest halftime lead of the season.
Lynchburg owns a 26-2 advantage over opponents in the first half this season.
First-year midfielder Khanyisile Mzizi recorded her third goal of the year on an unassisted strike to double the advantage in the 11th minute before Madison Mark converted a Meike Ottjes pass into Lynchburg's third goal of the first quarter.
Virginia Wesleyan failed to attempt a shot in the first quarter, giving Lynchburg a 13-0 advantage in that department through 15 minutes.
The hot start continued into the second quarter as Lynchburg turned eight more shots into three more goals.
Danielle Coon opened the frame with her first career goal on Lynchburg's second of three unassisted scores on the day less than a minute into the quarter.
Coon became the 16th different Hornet to score on the team's win streak.
A few moments later, Van Metre recorded her first goal of the day to make it five Lynchburg goals from five different scorers with Aaryn Boatwright being credited with the assist.
Lynchburg generated four more penalty corners across the back half of the second quarter, using the third such opportunity to extend the point-streak for Marlou Wendriks to eight-straight games.
It was the team-high ninth goal of the season for Wendriks, who also leads the squad with six assists and 24 points. Riley Winefordner was credited with the assist.
Lynchburg took 11 penalty corners in the first half en route to a season-best 19 penalty attempts on the afternoon.
The Hornets entered the day 8-0 on the season when leading at the half and remained perfect, scoring an additional two goals and protecting the blank sheet defensively in the second half.
Kessa Shaffer kicked off the third quarter with a score in the game's 37th minute, pushing the lead to seven off a Van Thiel assist.
The goal was Shaffer's second of the year and the helper gave Van Thiel a career-high three points. Lynchburg assisted on five of its eight goals.
The offense cooled the remainder of the period, though Kayla Brady made each of her two saves on the day, stopping consecutive shots from Virginia Wesleyan late in the quarter.
Brady finished her day in the cage after the third as Samira Gharavi entered the game in relief to start the fourth, making her third appearance of the season.
After three quarters of work, Brady lowered her goal against average to a career-high 0.71, and raised her save percentage to 82.1 percent, also a career-best.
The senior leads the ODAC in goal against average and ranks second in save percentage. She is protecting a 0.28 goal against average over the team's win streak, surrendering just two goals in that span.
Van Metre rounded out the scoring in the 57th minute, recording her fourth goal of the season on Lynchburg's third unassisted goal of the game. The junior now ranks third on the team in goals.
In addition to their season-high 19 penalty corners, Lynchburg also set season-bests with 33 shots and 20 shots on goal.
With the win, Lynchburg (10-1, 3-0 ODAC) picked up its third league win to set them up alone atop the conference standings. The 10-1 start is the best start for Lynchburg since the 2011 campaign.
Lynchburg will hit the road again this weekend for a 1:00 p.m. showdown with Washington & Lee in a battle between the top two picks in the ODAC preseason coaches' poll.
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