GWYNEDD VALLEY, PA. -- The Gwynedd Mercy University Field Hockey team won their 2017 home opener in convincing fashion with a 7-0 victory over visiting Delaware Valley University Wednesday night.

Four different Griffins scored on the night led by senior Melissa Russo with her ninth career hat trick. For Russo, her three goals now tie her for the top program mark of 69.
Kaitlyn Lutz, Brianna O'Connell and Abigail Gabriel each added tallies as well.

Lutz put the Griffins on the board in the first half when she knocked home a ball in-front of the cage just 12 minutes into the contest. A pair of Russo goals would follow as Shannon Carroll assisted on the first and the second by O'Connell. The fourth goal of the first stanza came off of a corner play when Russo found O'Connell's stick inside the arc for a 4-0 halftime lead.

Madison Reiss opened the scoring in the second half on a nice give-and-go corner with rookie Kaila Brown. Russo would then cap the hat-trick when she knocked home a rebound in the 58th minute. Gabriel would then put the icing on the cake when she connected on her shot just inside the arc to beat DelVal's Rosie Bishop for the 7-0 lead.

Sarah Crane recorded four saves for her first shutout of the season. Bishop was kept busy all night, making 10 stops.

The Griffins return back to action on Saturday when they host FDU-Florham at 3 p.m.