NORTON, MA- For the fifth straight season, the Wheaton College
and Wesleyan University field hockey teams played to a one-goal
decision, but the Lyons had their three-game winning streak over
the Cardinals snapped with a 2-1 loss on Tuesday at Clark Field.
Wheaton slipped to 5-4 on the season, while Wesleyan improved to
2-3.
Junior Julia Atwood (Concord, MA/Brooks School)
scored her fifth goal of the season for the Blue and White, while
senior keeper Andrea Bagley (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro)
made 10 saves, including a handful of critical stops that kept her
team in the game.
Sophomore Morgan McCauley (Rye, NY/Rye) netted
both of Wesleyan's markers, while freshman Tori Redding
(Guilford, CT/Branford) had four saves. The Cardinals held
advantages of 21-8 in shots and 9-4 in penalty corners.
McCauley put the visitors in front after just 6:35 of action,
and Wheaton fired off its only pair of shots in the opening half
during a single sequence late in the frame. With less than 5:30
remaining, Atwood took the second of the two tries, being stopped
on the short side by Redding.
A little more than 5:30 into the second stanza, Bagley slid out
to deny McCauley's breakaway opportunity. However, McCauley made it
2-0 soon thereafter, deking the keeper and going backhand into an
open net at 41:20.
The Lyons broke on the board at 56:11 off a penalty-corner
sequence. Junior Margaux Bolte (Belmont,
MA/Belmont) pushed a shot toward the cage, and sophomore
Emily Asack (Stoughton, MA/Stoughton) tipped the
ball to Atwood, who cut Wheaton's deficit in half.
Less than 1:30 later, Atwood sent a cross into the middle of the
circle, where it was knocked home, but the potential tying marker
was disallowed. In the 61st minute, Bagley again slid out to turn
away McCauley on a breakaway, and Wheaton had its final opportunity
late in regulation. With about 20 seconds left, junior
Jessica Strock (Centerville, MA/Barnstable) gained
possession near midfield and carried all the way into the circle
and toward the cage, but a foul gave the ball back to Wesleyan with
less than five ticks remaining.
Wheaton hosts its second straight New England Small College
Athletic Conference (NESCAC) opponent on Sunday, as the Lyons will
take on two-time defending NCAA Tournament champion Bowdoin College
at 1:00 p.m. The Polar Bears are currently 13th in the National
Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) national poll.
