Lynchburg, Va. -- University of Lynchburg field hockey sophomore forward Marlou Wendriks scored three points and head coach Enza Steele made history in a 2-1 victory over Randolph-Macon Thursday night to open the conference slate.
The milestone victory drew Steele within one win of tying her for the winningest active coach in Division III. Including her victories as the former head women's lacrosse coach, she has been responsible for a total of 865 collegiate wins.
The legendary coach could take over the lead with a pair of wins over No. 7 York and Centre this weekend.
Steele has overseen all 45 of the program's seasons, turning in 21 ODAC Championships and being awarded league coach of the year honors on 13 occasions.
The 25th-ranked Hornets kept things business as usual in the outset of career win No. 650, as Aaryn Boatwright tapped in an assist from Wendriks to open the scoring just over three minutes into the game.
The goal extended Boatwright's team-high mark in the category to a career-high six on the year through as many games and sent her past the 50-point barrier for her career.
Lynchburg took a 9-0 shot advantage into the first quarter break as they once again generated pressure on the offensive side with a healthy dose of forced turnovers to keep the ball in their attacking half of the field.
Marlou Wendriks doubled the lead in the 18th minute, sending a beauty of a shot past Randolph-Macon goalkeeper Valentina Ambrogi-Torres in transition.
Wendriks, who led the team in scoring in 2022, has scored a total of seven points over the past two games, scoring a pair of goals and assisting on three more.
The 2-0 lead that Lynchburg took to the break pushed Lynchburg's first half scoring advantage to 15-2 on the year and the Hornets have yet to surrender a second quarter goal.
Pace of play slowed into the second half as the pair of teams who combined to take just one penalty corner in the first half generated a total of 12 in the third and fourth quarters.
Lynchburg surrendered its first goal of the game six minutes into the second half when Randolph-Macon turned one of its two penalty corner opportunities in the game into a score that cut the lead in half.
Lynchburg played keep-away and kept the ball in their attacking third through the better part of the fourth quarter, riding an 8-0 shot advantage in the frame to a 2-1 victory.
The Hornets were unable to find their third goal in the back half despite generating 10 penalty corners and taking 16 shots to Randolph-Macon's one. On the day, Lynchburg outshot their opponents 28-2.
Lynchburg placed 13 shots on goal, with 11 being stopped by Ambrogi-Torres in just her fifth career start. Khanyisile Mzizi and Wendriks each placed three shots on frame.
Kayla Brady was challenged only once in her 50th career start in the cage, surrendering the lone Yellow Jacket goal but going the distance in goal to pick up her 37th career win.
Lynchburg (5-1, 1-0 ODAC) picked up its first conference win of the season and closed out a season-long four-game homestand on a three-game win streak.
The Hornets will look ahead to their first neutral site contest of the season when they take on No. 7 York on the campus of Sweet Briar College Saturday, Sept. 23 at 11 a.m.
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