MEMPHIS - The Rhodes College women's lacrosse team led by as many as seven and held off a late rally the Piedmont College Lions to come away with their first victory of the season, 13-10, in front of a great crowd at Mason Field on Friday evening.

The Lynx outshot the Lions, 31-20, including a 25-18 advantage in shots on goal. Rhodes also had a 21-14 advantage in ground balls. The two teams were even in draw controls at 13 a piece and even at free-position shots at five each.

Rhodes scored a pair of goals in the first three minutes of the game as sophomore Maggie Rippeto scored both goals for the early lead. Piedmont responded with two goals of their own in the next five minutes, but Rhodes pushed it to 4-2 on goals from sophomore Kendall Cunningham and senior Morgan Fuller. 

After Piedmont made it a 4-3 game with 15 minutes remaining in the first half, the Lynx proceeded to score the next three goals in the next eight minutes as freshman Annika Hedlund scored her first career goal while Cunningham scored two more goals.

The Lions cut the deficit to two goals, but the Lynx closed the half with three goals as Cunningham connected on two more goals while sophomore Ashley Doyle scored her first career goal as a Lynx as Rhodes had a comfortable 10-5 lead at the break.

Fuller and Cunningham scored again to start the second half as Rhodes extended their lead to a commanding 12-5. The Lions did not go down quietly, scoring three straight goal to make it a 12-8 game. Fuller scored a key goal with over seven minutes to go to push the lead back to five. Piedmont would add two more goals, but it would not be enough as the defending Southern Athletic Association Champions started the season on the right note.

Cunningham picked up where she left off from her stellar rookie campaign, finishing with six goals on only 10 shots taken. Fuller added three goals while Rippeto scored two. Junior Lindsay Gess, sophomore Olivia Holmes, and Doyle all added an assist on the day.

Cunningham and Fuller added three ground balls each while senior Sam Vanover, sophomore Rachel Windmueller, and Doyle all had two grounds balls and two caused turnovers. Sophomore Katherine Tooley finished with eight saves, earning the win.

For Piedmont, Maggie McDaniel and Mckynsey Douglas each had three goals while Cahner Manns accounted for ground balls.

Rhodes starts the season at 1-0 overall and will return to Mason Field next Sunday as they welcome in the Huntingdon College Hawks. First draw is set for 3 PM.