TACOMA, Wash.  Whitman College women's lacrosse, in just its third season, secured the program's first winning record after thrashing host University of Puget Sound, 16-5, Friday afternoon in Northwest Conference action on the Loggers' home turf at Peyton Field.

The Blues are 8-6 overall, and their 5-2 record within the league -- combined with a sweep of the third-place team during the spring -- assured the team of second place in the league standings. Puget Sound's loss sends it to 5-6 and 2-4 marks, respectively.

In Friday's game Whitman was the better team at the start and -- mostly -- throughout the first half, but it was the vastly better squad over the final 30 minutes.

It took just 19 seconds for the Blues to light up the scoreboard. Lindsay Schwartz won the draw control, raced down field, then found Anna Melville who took the first shot of the game and notched the first goal of the game.

Schwartz scored an unassisted goal three minutes later, and one minute later Melville fed Nina Moore for a goal to make it 3-0 in less than five minutes of action.

The Loggers broke the string to nip into their deficit, but Abbey Dias and Melville would restore order with unanswered goals to push the Whitman advantage to 5-1.

Meghan Bacher scored her second of the game for UPS to halt the unanswered string, and the rest of the half was a tug-of-war as the teams traded goals until the Blues could take a 7-3 lead into the halftime break.

Second-half scoring was initiated by Puget Sound, with Hanna Nichols pulling the Loggers closer, 7-4, with a score two minutes in.

Schwartz and Melville added some breathing room with goals, but Nichols struck again, a signal that prompted a timeout from Whitman head coach Kate Robinson.

The vastly better team came out of the sideline talk, and scored the final seven goals of the contest. Possession in its attacking third and team defense limited Puget Sound to a measly three shots over the final 17 minutes.

Schwartz finished with a game-best six goals while Melville's four goals and five assists pushed her to a game-high nine points. And setting up the attack came from Whitman's 17-6 edge in draw controls, including six wins each by Moore and Dias.

Defensively, goalkeeper Kate Whittingham finished with a game-high eight saves while Dana Casterella, Sarah Myers and Schwartz each registered a pair of caused turnovers.

Whitman concludes its season Saturday at Linfield College in a 12 p.m. conference game on the Wildcats' Maxwell Field turf. The game will be the final collegiate contests for seniors Casterella, Melville and Natalie McBranch.