ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. - The Brevard College women's lacrosse team (1-1, 1-0 USA South) secured a well-deserved victory in its USA South Conference opener, defeating N.C. Wesleyan (0-3, 0-1 USAS), 13-8 on Tuesday afternoon on Stallings Field at Vernon T. Bradley, Jr. Stadium.
 
Sophomore Arianna Casertano led the goal scorers with five strikes, won a team-best six draw controls, and caused a team-high four turnovers in addition to a team-best four ground balls. Senior Xan Hill facilitated the offense with three goals and five assists, while junior Madi Norris scored three times and won three draws. Sofia Hardin added two goals to Brevard's 13-goal effort.
 
Junior shot-stopper Kyla Smith-Fondall made a total of 15 saves while adding two ground balls and two caused turnovers to the ledger.
 
NCWU was kept in contention by Maxima Iglesias, who scored six times with one assist, caused six turnovers, and won four draws.
 
Brevard started the contest off scoring the first four goals within the first three minutes of game action. Hardin found the back of the net within 48 seconds for her first score of the 2026 campaign. Hill then won the ensuing draw control and scored, tallying her second goal in arow at the 13:11 mark on a free position attempt. Norris continued her stellar start to the season, converting at 12:21 off a Hill assist, putting the Tornados up 4-0.
 
Casertano scored two-straight for the Tornados as the surge continued, as the sophomore attacker put in a pair of Hill assists to extend the margin to six goals at the end of the first period.
 
Norris put in a free-position goal a minute into the second period, and Hardin followed up with her second goal of the contest at the 11:16 mark in the stanza.
 
Hill found the back of the net for the third time in the first half, pushing the Tornados up to a 9-0 margin. With 4:55 remaining in the second quarter, BC's Casertano put Brevard past the 10-goal threshold with her third goal of the half. NC Wesleyan took advantage of a pair of Tornado cards, scoring its first goal of the afternoon on the power play at 2:05, making the halftime score 10-1 in favor of the Tornados.
 
Maxima Iglesias, who scored NCWU's first goal, put in three more in a row to start the second half of action, trimming the Tornado lead to a six-goal margin, 10-4. At the 2:18 mark in the third period, Nicole Triassi scored off an Iglesias assist, officially cutting the deficit in half at 10-5.
 
Each side traded strikes in the final period of play, as the Tornados utilized their large first-half lead to complete their first win of 2026.
 
The Tornados are back in action on Tuesday, March 3, at 5 p.m. to face Guilford at Ives-Lemel Family Field.
 
To follow the latest news and updates surrounding Brevard College Athletics, follow the Tornados on Twitter and Instagram @bctornados, subscribe to 'Brevard College Tornados' on YouTube, and follow 'Brevard College Athletics' on Facebook. In addition, follow 'brevardcollege' on Flickr for photos from Brevard College events.
 

-BC-