McNicholas, Trainor account for Lyons' offense

NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College field hockey team was dealt a 3-2 loss by Lasell College in non-conference action on Wednesday evening at Nordin Field.

Freshman back Michelle Trainor (Amesbury, Mass./Saint Thomas Aquinas) and junior midfielder Sarah McNicholas (Boxboro, Mass./Acton-Boxboro) both found the back of the net in the second half to account for the Lyons.

Lasell sophomore forward Nikita Soares (Westport, Mass./Westport) led all student-athletes with two markers, while classmate Ashley Gleason (Suffield, Conn./Suffield) registered her third goal of the season at the 22:44 mark. Sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Sheehan (Brewster, Mass./Nauset Regional) turned aside a career-high 13 shots in the cage.

Soares lifted the Lasers to a 1-0 advantage in the 19th minute of the contest putting home a rebound directly in front of the cage past Wheaton senior goalkeeper Ellie Massengill (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional). Massengill ended the game with five saves total in 42 minutes of action.

Trailing 2-0 at the break, Trainor cut the Lyons' deficit in half at 37:16 blasting a shot into the lower right corner of the cage for her second tally this season.

Soares quickly answered for the visitors eventually potting a goal off of her own rebound at the 42:00 mark. Soares leads the team with four goals in four games.

McNicholas put Wheaton in striking distance at 42:55 as she slipped by a defender in a one-on-one situation on the left side of the cage and ripped a shot through Sheehan's five-hole for her first goal of the year.

Sheehan prevented any chance of an overtime session down the stretch after McNicholas' goal compiling five saves to push her record to 2-2 overall.

Wheaton outshot Lasell 20-14 in the game and held a 9-5 advantage in penalty corners. The Lasers picked up their first win in the all-time series (5-1) which dates back to 2005. The Lyons have outscored the opposition 23-9 in the six-game series to date.

Wheaton (3-2) hosts Skidmore on Saturday, September 14 at 3 p.m. Lasell (2-2) visits Regis on Saturday with gametime scheduled for noon.

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