SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The fourth-seeded Wheaton College women's lacrosse team fell behind early before losing 18-9 at top seed Springfield College in Saturday's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament semifinal round at Stagg Field.

Advancing to the semifinals for the first time in five years, the Lyons finished their season at 7-12, while the Pride improved to 11-5 and will face second seed Babson College in tomorrow's final.

Junior Katie Powers (Ashburnham, Mass./Cushing Academy) recorded a hat trick for Wheaton, while senior Tess Meyer (Concord, N.H./Concord) scored twice.  Junior Hailey Colburn (Concord, N.H./Concord) and freshman Charlotte DeSantis (Darien, Conn./Cushing Academy) posted one goal and one assist apiece.  Senior goalie Marianna Marcellino (Milton, Mass./Thayer Academy) was credited with nine saves in a little over 56 minutes.

Springfield's balanced scoring attack featured four players with four points each, while freshman Anne Versprille (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) turned aside seven shots in the victory.

Powers' marker at 26:40 of the opening half sliced Wheaton's deficit in half at 2-1, but the hosts responded with six unanswered goals during a 7:36 span and never looked back.  Powers and sophomore Kristen Palmer (East Dorset, Vt./Burr and Burton Academy) sandwiched goals around a Springfield marker to pull within 9-3 before the Pride used a 3-0 run to extend its advantage to nine.  Wheaton scored three of the half's final four goals to trail 13-6 at the break.

The Lyons didn't find the back of the net until 16:56 of the second half, when DeSantis' tally made the score 16-7.  After a pair of Springfield tallies provided the hosts with an 18-7 advantage with 9:10 remaining, Meyer accounted for two unassisted goals during a 2:40 spurt to complete the scoring.