Lyons honor seniors in pre-game ceremony

NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College women's lacrosse team dropped a 14-3 decision to Bowdoin College, ranked no. 8 overall in the latest Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) national poll, in a non-conference matchup on Saturday afternoon at Keefe Field.

Prior to today's contest, seniors Stephanie Hoomis (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury), Caitlin Nygren (Harvard, Mass./Bromfield School), Elizabeth Hickey (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth), Kristen Palmer (East Dorset, Vt./Burr & Burton Academy) and Amy Moreira (Bristol, R.I./Mount Hope) were all honored for their contributions towards the women's lacrosse program.

Lyons' junior Leila Mills (Brunswick, Maine/Brunswick) led the Blue and White with three goals, three draw controls and two ground balls. Classmate Devon Soucier (Avon, Conn./Northwest Catholic) added a season-high five caused turnovers and four ground balls.

Bowdoin junior Mackenzie Schleicher (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) potted five goals, dished out one assist and scooped up one ground ball. Classmate Jordan Smith (Glen Ridge, N.J./Glen Ridge) contributed four markers and one caused turnover while junior Betsy Sachs (Glenside, Pa./Germantown Friends) filled the stat sheet with three tallies, one helper, seven ground balls and five caused turnovers.

The Polar Bears took a commanding 7-0 lead over the opening 19:19 of play taking advantage of three free position attempts along the way. Sachs netted the game's first goal at 26:27 on a free position shot and Schleicher deposited three out of the next four goals over a 4:59 span for a 5-0 advantage.

Mills put Wheaton on the board at the 7:57 mark of the first half ripping home a nice feed from freshman Allie Bush (Kennebunk, Maine/Kennebunk) to cut into the deficit at 7-1. After freshman Megan O'Connor (Concord, Mass./The Governors Academy) found the back of the net for her only score at 7:38, Mills capped the offense in the opening stanza at 6:38 on an assist by freshman Brooke Sabol (Landgrove, Vt./Burr & Burton Academy).

Bowdoin outscored the Lyons 6-1 in the second half to claim its fourth-straight victory of the season. Mills recorded her third goal of the game with 9:58 remaining on a feed from junior Charlotte De Santis (Darien, Conn./Cushing Academy).

Hoomis made three saves in the loss for Wheaton. Polar Bears' senior goalkeeper Tara Connolly (Simsbury, Conn./The Gunnery) stopped a game-high five shots.

Wheaton (10-6) wraps up regular season play tomorrow against Fitchburg State University at 1 p.m. Bowdoin (11-2) hosts Colorado College tomorrow at 1 p.m.