Junior Lauren Hopkins scored a pair of goals and freshman Maggie Ellis added a goal and an assist to lead the University of Mary Washington field hockey team to a 4-1 victory over St. Mary's College of Md. on Sunday in the opening round of the Capital Athletic Conference Tournament at the Battleground. The Eagles improve to 11-5 on the season, and will advance to Wednesday's CAC semifinal round.

Hopkins got the offense started with a score at 12:17, collecting a rebound off a saved shot and finding the cage, and Ellis followed in similar fashion at 13:27. The Seahawks cut the deficit in half at 22:19 on a score from Hannah Deitrich, but Hopkins answered a minute later on an Ellis pass to move the lead to 3-1, which stood through halftime.

In the second half, the defenses stiffened, with the only score coming at 65:03, as freshman Emma Claire Stewart scored off a penalty corner, with assists going to Gillian Ross and Lexie Dixson.

The Eagles led in shots, 22-10, in the contest, and had 11 penalty corners to four for St. Mary's. UMW senior goalkeeper Jessica Cavolt made four stops for the Eagles, while senior Cori Rydgren added a defensive save, and St. Mary's keeper Skylar Limpert made 14 stops for the Seahawks.

Mary Washington will advance to the CAC semifinal round on Wednesday, when they will visit top-seeded Salisbury University at 6 p.m., with the winner advancing to the conference championship game.