Cohen & Sabol score four goals each

NORTON, Mass. – Juniors Madison Cohen (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) and Brooke Sabol (Landgrove, Vt./Burr & Burton Academy) both scored four goals apiece to lead the Wheaton College women's lacrosse team to a 17-7 victory against Gordon College in the season opening contest for each squad on Saturday afternoon at Nordin Field.

Cohen, who tallied four markers for the first time in her career today, also added an assist, two ground balls, one draw control and a caused turnover to the Lyons' victory, while Sabol contributed four draw controls and three ground balls. Counting today's four-goal effort, Sabol has now registered four or more markers in seven contests since 2013.

First-year Katie Peters (Medway, Mass./Medway) and junior Jenna Tewksbury (Concord, N.H./Concord) potted two goals apiece, while sophomore Angela Mallis (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth), seniors Kelsie Jenquine (Brunswick, Maine/Brunswick) and Melanie Sharick (Amherst, Mass./Amherst), first-year Megan Hemmerlein (Contoocook, N.H./Hopkinton) and junior Ava Myette (Brattleboro, Vt./Brattleboro) all found the back of the net once.

Wheaton junior Allie Bush (Kennebunk, Maine/Kennebunk) dished out a game-high four assists, while Mallis contributed two and sophomore Giovanna Bishop (Portland, Ore./Grant), Cohen and Jenquine each had one helper.

Gordon junior Jessica Castelline (Concord, Mass./Concord-Carlisle) paced the Fighting Scots with a hat-trick, all on free position attempts, in addition to four draw controls and one caused turnover. Senior Abby Illian (Hillsdale, N.J./Pascack Valley), sophomore Blake Orndorff (Churchville, Md./The Tome School), junior Bailey Grinnell (South Hamilton, Mass./Hamilton-Wenham) and sophomore Anna Rourke (Hamilton, Mass./Hamilton-Wenham) all netted one goal each to round out the scoring for the visitors.

The Blue and White took a 5-0 lead less than ten minutes into the matchup as Cohen, Sharick, Jenquine, Sabol and Tewksbury all potted markers. Defensively, Wheaton senior goalkeeper Katy Ananian (Belmont, Mass./Belmont) stopped both shots she faced during that span, while the Lyons won 4-of-5 draw controls and converted 2-of-3 clear attempts.

Wheaton extended its advantage to 6-0 at the 19:45 mark on Peters' first collegiate goal and made it 8-0 after Sabol buried back-to-back goals at 16:34 and 13:15. The Lyons closed out the half with a 10-0 margin as Cohen and Hemmerlein capped the scoring in the stanza.

In the second stanza, both teams went goal-for-goal after Grinnell broke up the shutout for Gordon at the 29:23 mark of the half. The Fighting Scots eventually altered the exchange in markers with two-straight tallies at 19:27 and 12:11 to cut into their deficit at 13-5. Wheaton responded with back-to-back goals from Peters and Myette at 10:37 and 9:52, respectively, to squander any chance of a comeback bid.

Ananian finished the contest with two saves, while first-year goalkeeper Molly Witten (Bethesda, Md./Dublin School) stopped four shots in her collegiate debut (26:37 minutes). Gordon sophomore goalkeeper Jackie Kiernan (Lexington, Mass./Lexington Christian) turned away a game-high seven shots in the start and first-year goalkeeper Zita Nagel (Wayland, Mass./Wayland) made one save off the bench in 30 minutes of action.

The Lyons went 11-for-18 on clear attempts and 5-for-6 in free position attempts. The Fighting Scots were 9-for-16 in transition and 5-for-7 on their free position shots.

Wheaton (1-0) travels to Salve Regina on Saturday, February 28 for a non-conference matchup at 1 p.m. Gordon (0-1) hosts Plymouth State on March 3 at 4 p.m.

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