WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Catholic University women's lacrosse team fell to a strong Gettysburg contingent on Carlini Field Wednesday night.

No. 24 Catholic got off to a hot start, scoring less than a minute into the contest but No. 9 Gettysburg responded immediately with five-straight goals and never looked back.

A beautiful feed from Riley Cherkes set up top Cardinal goalscorer Kate Olsen to push Meghan McDonogh's team ahead just 35 seconds into the game. The pair connected again to stop the five-goal Bullet run, but Gettysburg scored three more times before the first-quarter break to push the lead to 8-2.

Gettysburg was about as efficient as possible, scoring 21 goals on 28 total shots. The Bullets also went 5-for-6 on free position shots.

Grace Hill, Caroline Beckett, Mattea Del Peschio and Lindsay Sawyer all scored a goal apiece for the Cardinals while Rachel Rubenstein and Kelsey Martin each caused three turnovers.

The Cardinals will now turn their attention to conference play. Catholic will travel to Bethlehem, Pa., to take on Moravian in its Landmark Conference opener on Saturday. Opening draw control is set for 1 p.m.