LYNCHBURG, Va.- Down 11-6 early in the second half, the Randolph women's lacrosse team rallied to overtake visiting Eastern Mennonite 15-13 on Thursday afternoon at WildCat Stadium. The win was the first conference victory for the 'Cats since 2016.

Randolph improves to 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The Royals drop to 1-5 overall and 0-5 in league play.

It was EMU that struck first at the 25:40 mark of the first half. Randolph answered immediately as Sarah Perry (Rocky Mount, Va./Franklin County) won the draw control and raced downfield for her first goal of the day to tie the game at 1-1. Perry scored again less than five minutes later to give the 'Cats a 2-1 advantage.

After the Royals tied the game at 2-2, a yellow card on EMU gave Randolph a man-up opportunity. With a free position attempt, Olivia Richards (Limestone, Tenn./Pinecrest (N.C.) cashed in to give the WildCats a 3-2 lead with 15:53 remaining in the first half. Sophia Cirone's (Stuart, Fla./South Fork) goal 15 seconds later upped the WildCat lead to 4-2.

The Royals put a little run together with three straight goals to go up 5-4 with 11:39 remaining in the half. The teams would exchange goals with each other but Eastern Mennonite scored twice in the final 1:05 of the frame to lead 8-6 at halftime.

EMU's late momentum carried over into the second half as three more goals gave it an 11-6 lead with 26:10 remaining in the contest. Staring down defeat, the WildCats came storming back with an eight-goal burst to overtake the Royals and lead 14-11 with just over five minutes left in regulation. Two EMU goals sandwiched between another Perry strike were not enough for the Royals as Randolph was able to come away with the win.

Perry scored a team-high six goals and won eight controls. She also had a late caused turnover that led to her sixth goal. Cirone had a seven-point day with four goals and three assists. She won six draws and caused three turnovers. Richards picked up a hat trick with three goals and added an assist. Alexis Bossi (Falls Church, Va./Justice) scored once and Kaylyn Collier (Newport, Tenn./Gate City) scored her first collegiate goal with an assist from Molly McNair (Cordeaux Heights, New South Wales/Figtree).

Randolph outshot Eastern Mennonite 35-19. The WildCats had 28 shots on goal to 13 for the Royals. Both team had five groundballs. Randolph edged out EMU in draw controls won16-14.

The WildCats travel to Shenandoah on Saturday. Game time will be at 1:00 p.m.