Sanchez nets a pair of goals in the victory

NORTON, Mass. – Second-seeded Wheaton College defeated seventh-seeded Coast Guard Academy, 6-0, in the quarterfinal round of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament on Tuesday afternoon at Mirrione Stadium.

Freshman Alexa Sanchez (Houston, Texas/Bellaire) paced the offense with a pair of markers, while senior Kristina Braga (Lowell, Mass./Lowell), junior Kelsee Howes (Maynard, Mass./Maynard) and freshman Sydney Ferrell (Pasadena, Calif./Orange Lutheran) also added tallies in the victory.

Wheaton got on the scoreboard early as Laila Razzaghi's (Ringoes, N.J./Princeton Day School) cross from the left flank, which was intended for sophomore Julia Cipriano (Middlebury, Conn./Pomperaug) inside the box, was kicked in by a Coast Guard defender at 5:28.

In the 23rd minute, Braga deposited her team-leading ninth goal of the season finishing a quick pass from junior Gabriella Verde (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) inside the near post for a 2-0 advantage.

Ferrell registered her first career collegiate goal at the 31:32 mark putting home a beautiful through ball from Sanchez that split the middle of the Bears' defensive backline.

Howes notched her fourth goal of the year in the 47th minute stealing a ball from a defender in the box and Sanchez capped the scoring off of a rebound at the 75:26 mark.

Lyons' sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Wilson (Bellingham, Mass./Bellingham) made two saves in 75:26 of action. Classmate Ali Hinton (Lafayette, Colo./Alexander Dawson School) did not record a save in 14:36 of playing time. Coast Guard junior goalkeeper Holly Moore (Pittsfield, Mass.) stopped six shots in the loss.

Wheaton pushed its shutout streak against Coast Guard to 601:44 consecutive minutes, while also recording its 12th shutout of the season. The Bears scored their last goal against the Lyons in an 8-2 loss on October 4, 2008. Overall in the series, Coast Guard has only scored twice in 17 meetings against Wheaton dating back to 2000. The Lyons are 16-0-1 in the all-time series.

Wheaton (14-5-2) will play the winner of third-seeded Springfield (11-4-3) and sixth-seeded WPI (10-6-2) on Saturday, November 9 at 2 p.m. on the campus of MIT in Cambridge, Mass. Springfield and WPI play tonight at 7 p.m. in Springfield, Mass. Coast Guard concludes it season at 6-11-2 overall.

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