RICHMOND, Va. – Anchored by a pair of hat trick performances from Julianne Carey and Grace Fahey, fourth-seeded Davidson powered past No. 5 overall George Washington in the opening match of the Atlantic 10 Women's Lacrosse Championship, holding the Colonials to a single second-half goal en route to a final 15-5 victory Thursday afternoon at Cary Street Field.

With the win, the Wildcats advance to Friday's first semifinal clash against top-seeded Massachusetts, squaring off against the Minutewomen at noon with a bid to Sunday's A-10 Championship final on the line.

Despite GW jumping out to a quick 2-0 advantage less than five minutes into the first period, the Wildcats managed to completely recover over the course of the next quarter, outpacing the Colonials by a 5-1 clip heading into the second period. Halftime yielded a three-goal differential in favor of the Wildcats, 7-4.

Following the midway break, both Davidson's offense and defense came out with serious focus, as the veteran back line led by goalkeeper Amanda Monahan went into shutdown mode – giving up just a single second-half goal – while the offense generated 10 goals in response, mainly propelled by Carey and Fahey.

Overall, Monahan finished with a total 12 saves for the match with five goals allowed while Carey and Fahey's offensive output was aided by a pair of two-goal showings off the sticks of Erin Cooke and Riley Moore.

For GW, Kerry McKeever paced the squad with two goals while Colonials' netminder Mia Caro collected 17 saves with 15 goals surrendered.