West Palm Beach, FL - Four goals in the first five minutes and a strong defensive effort in the first half helped the Clarkson University Women's Lacrosse team build an early insurmountable lead and the Golden Knights dominated in a 15-7 victory over UMass-Dartmouth Tuesday night at Lake Lytal Park.

The Golden Knights improved to 2-3 on the season and will close out their Florida schedule on Thursday when they face the University of St. Joseph. UMass-Dartmouth dropped to 1-3 on the season.

Freshman Ashley Flick (Watertown, NY) scored less than 90 seconds into the contest and classmate Paige Fayette (Theresa, NY) followed with two more goals before four minutes had expired from the first half. Another goal by Flick at 25:09 gave Clarkson a 4-0 lead, and the Knights were immediately in control.

Though the Knights' scoring pace would slow, the defensive effort kept the Corsairs off the scoreboard and out of the Clarkson defensive end. UMass-Dartmouth didn't record a shot until the 15:51 mark of the first half, and the Corsairs mustered only four attempts on the Clarkson cage in the opening period.

Any chance of a second half rally was snuffed out by the Clarkson offense in the early going. Fayette scored a pair of goals 25 seconds apart before two minutes were off the game clock in the second half. Sophomore Hanna Gleason (Massena, NY) recorded her first career collegiate goal at 26:32 and Fayette added another at 22:41, giving the Knights an 11-1 edge, allowing the team to coast through the final 20 minutes for the win.

Fayette finished with six goals and an assist to go along with five groundballs and two caused turnovers to lead the Golden Knights offensive effort. Flick added four goals and three groundballs and fellow freshman Kate Dillon (St. Albans, VT) added a pair of goals. Gleason scored one goal and added to her effort defensively with seven groundballs and three caused turnovers. Jessica Budaj (Windsor, MA) and Caitlin Swanson (Red Hook, NY) accounted for a goal apiece.

For the Corsairs, Colleen Kane had two goals and an assist and Taylor Corsano added a pair of goals.

Clarkson out shot UMass-Dartmouth 31-13 and held a 20-4 edge in the first half. Kara DiNatale (Auburn, NH) made three saves in just under 40 minutes of action for Clarkson and Dani Tani (Heuvelton, NY) made two saves in 20 minutes of relief in the Clarkson net. Leah Wilkinson stopped five shots in 36 minutes for the Corsairs before Nicole Butts came on to make four saves in the final 24 minutes.