NORTON, Mass.- The nationally-ranked Wheaton College women's soccer team recorded its first shutout of the season following a 5-0 victory over visiting Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Saturday's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opener at Mirrione Stadium.

Ranked 23rd in the country and fourth in New England by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), the Lyons improve to 4-0-1 overall.  Today's clean sheet marked the ninth straight against the Engineers, who fell to 2-4.

Senior Samantha Cronin (Wethersfield, Conn./Wethersfield) led the Lyons with two goals and one assist, including scoring the game-winner in the 13th minute.  Freshman Julia Cipriano (Middlebury, Conn./Pomperaug), who managed to knock the ball loose from the WPI goalkeeper, pushed it right to Cronin in front of the net for the quick finish.

Junior Kristina Braga (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) made the score 2-0 midway through the opening half, and Wheaton kept the pressure on the rest of the way, including a pair of shots from Braga and sophomore Gabriella Verde (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) that hit the crossbar.

The Lyons capitalized on their second-half scoring opportunities, stringing together three goals during an 8:32 span, including a pair off corner kicks.  Cronin connected with senior Cassey Muse (Candia, N.H./Central) at 54:56 and 3:27 later successfully converted a penalty kick following an Engineer handball in the box.

Sophomore Lauren Corigliano's (Roselle Park, N.J./Roselle Park) corner offering found junior Rachelle Rodman (Fair Oaks, Calif./Bella Vista) in the middle of the box for the header finish.

Freshman Taylor Wilson (Bellingham, Mass./Bellingham) notched two saves in a little more than 64 minutes to collect the win, while classmate Ali Hinton (Lafayette, Colo./Alexander Dawson School) had one stop.  Facing 27 shots, WPI junior Maddie Willer (Penfield, N.Y./Penfield) made five saves.  The Lyons took all seven of the game's corner kicks.

Wheaton next travels to Bangor, Maine, tomorrow afternoon to face Husson University in a non-league match at 1:00 p.m.