WALLA WALLA, Wash. – 69 seconds.

That's all it took for Hannah Trettenero to get Whitman College out in front during the first varsity women's lacrosse game in program history Sunday afternoon at the Whitman Athletics Fields. The Missionaries never trailed in the contest, scoring the game's first nine goals, and went on to a 15-6 Northwest Conference victory over visiting Linfield College.

Trettenero added an assist on the day while Bea Sheffer, with seven goals, and Sarah Edwards, four goals with one assist, packed much of the Whitman (1-0, 1-0 NWC) scoring punch against a Linfield (0-4, 0-3) squad that didn't register its first shot until five minutes had elapsed after the opening draw control.

Possession played a big part in the Missionaries' win. "Draw controls and possession were important today," said head coach Kate Robinson who notched her first career victory Sunday. "Those facets of the game were an emphasis for us coming into today. We won the draw control battle 17-6, and won the game 15-6. I'm happy for the players that they got a chance to see all that we've been prepping them for make a difference in game situations."

Whitman also took advantage of their free position attempts, registering a 4-for-6 day from the 8-meter line on those opportunities. Conversely, Linfield was only 1-of-6, in part due to stellar play from starting goalkeeper Savannah McNichol as well as Katie Whittingham who took over between the pipes to start the second half.

"Both of our goalies made some amazing saves today, especially on those free position shots," added Robinson. "But another aspect we've preached is positional defense. Our low defenders played a great game, protecting the 8 [meter arc] and forcing a lot of poor-angle shots which helped Savannah and Katie."

Shot totals were lopsided in favor of Whitman, 41-21, but the Missionaries could have escalated that difference even more. "One of the things I'd like to see us clean up for our next game is not forcing passes that weren't there," stated Robinson. Indeed, her Missionaries finished with 22 turnovers while Linfield accumulated 10 caused turnovers.

The opening salvo, initiated by Trettenero, set the tone for the game, however.

Sheffer scored 30 seconds after the opening goal, from a free position opportunity, then added her second of the game five minutes later. Edwards notched her first goal in the 20th minute followed by a draw control win and another Sheffer tally less than 30 seconds later. Sheffer's fourth of the game and Emily Jordan's first kept the scoring string rolling with Sheffer and Anna Melville -- on a soaring leap, catch and shoot in front of the goal off a perfect pass by Jordan behind the cage -- closing out the 9-0 run with just under six minutes remaining in the half.

Linfield picked itself up off the turf, though, and scored three straight to cut into the lead by a third, but Edwards and Sheffer got two back on goals with 22 seconds and five seconds, respectively, remaining.

Both teams finished the afternoon with nine saves. Linfield's Erika Phillipo notched all of her team's saves while McNichol finished with three and Whittingham added the other six over the final 30 minutes of action.

So it's one down, and many, many years to go for Robinson and the Missionaries. "It was a great 'team' win today,"reflected the first-year head coach. "Seeing what we've been working on in practice come to fruition in the game makes me really happy. And I'm thrilled that everyone on our bench got a chance to play today, especially for those who'd never played in a collegiate game before."

Whitman rolls into action again with little rest, taking on George Fox University Monday at 1 p.m. in Walla Walla.