MEMPHIS - Junior Lauren Travis scored the first goal of the season in the first half while sophomore Lizzie Wood extended the lead to two early in the second half as the Rhodes College Lynx opened their 2016 campaign with a 2-0 win over Denison on Saturday afternoon at Mason Field.

Rhodes moves to 1-0 on the season while Denison falls to 0-1 early in the year. The Lynx out shot the Big Red 7-3 in the game, including a 5-3 advantage in shots on goal. The Lynx also earned a 6-5 advantage in penalty corners. 

The Lynx took control in the first half, using stiff defense as Denison could not get a shot off in the half to go with only one penalty corner. Rhodes got five shots off in the first half and finally found the back of the net with 22:32 to go in the half as Travis netted her first goal of the season on an assist from freshman Cami Sullivan.

It did not take the Lynx long to extend the lead in the second half as senior Christina DeFelice found Wood early in the half to go ahead 2-0. Rhodes got tremendous games from the likes of senior Kennedy Brislin, junior Morgan Woodrow, junior Maddie Smith, and sophomore Abby Rockefeller to preserve their first victory of the season.

Wood and Brislin each had two shots on the day while Travis, DiFelice, and Smith added one a piece. Rhodes was able to play 20 players in the opener with a good mix of upperclassmen and new faces. Junior Laura Eckelkamp earned the win in goal, finishing with three saves on the day.

Rhodes will return to Mason Field tomorrow afternoon in a rematch of the NCAA Championship First Round matchup with DePauw. Game time is set for 1:30 following the Denison/Hendrix game. If you cannot make it out to Mason Field, you can catch all the action on Lynx Live.