Lyons post fifth shutout this season

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wheaton College sophomore Julia Cipriano's (Middlebury, Conn./Pomperaug) fifth goal of the season in the 24th minute held true as the Lyons went on to defeat Wellesley College, 1-0, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) matchup on Saturday afternoon.

Cipriano gave Wheaton the only goal it needed at the 23:41 mark blasting a deep ball from the left side just outside the reach of Wellesley's sophomore goalkeeper Kat Goldsmith (Armonk, N.Y./Greenwich Academy). Junior Lauren Corigliano (Roselle Park, N.J./Roselle Park) got the play going after receiving a headed pass from Cipriano on the left flank. Corigliano proceed to deliver a quick pass directly to the feet of freshman Kaitlin Montoya (Placentia, Calif./Orange Lutheran) who followed with a spin move to avoid a defender and fed Cipriano for the wide open look on goal.

Wellesley's best scoring opportunity in the half came just over three minutes after the Lyons claimed their 1-0 advantage. Senior Lena Cardoso (Seattle, Wash./Ingraham) sent a high and looping strike towards Wheaton sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Thacker (Brunswick, Maine/Brunswick), who was there for the save, keeping the Blue off the board.

The Lyons held a 12-2 advantage in shots at the break, while Wellesley had a 2-1 edge in corner kick opportunities.

Wellesley created a nice scoring opportunity in the 60th minute, with freshman Kyla Petrie (Denton, Texas/Denton) starting the play. Petrie dribbled up field, passing to sophomore Juliette Frye (Atlanta, Ga./Paideai School) who found senior LJ Foster (Safety Harbor, Fla./Palm Harbor Univ.) on the right flank. Foster followed with a hard shot destined for the right corner, but Thacker made a diving save to keep the score at 1-0.

Wheaton nearly made it 2-0 on a corner kick from junior Lauren Corigliano (Roselle Park, N.J./Roselle Park) in the 88th minute. A well placed ball from Corigliano deflected off of a several student-athletes and ended up hitting the post falling just outside the box.

The Lyons finished the game with a 17-4 advantage in shots, and a 4-2 advantage in corners. Thacker turned in a pair of saves to earn her fourth shutout of the season for Wheaton. Goldsmith made six saves in the loss.

Wheaton (7-4-1, 2-0-0 NEWMAC) visits MIT on Tuesday, October 8 for a NEWMAC contest at 4 p.m. Wellesley (4-7-1, 1-1-0 NEWMAC) travels to Babson for a conference matchup on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

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