Hillman collects six points in the win

NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College men's lacrosse team outscored UMass Boston 10-2 in the first half en route to a 13-6 non-conference victory over the Beacons on Wednesday evening at Nordin Field.

Senior attackman Matthew Hillman (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) led the charge for the Lyons with four goals and two assists. Sophomore Will Morrison (Osterville, Mass./Salisbury School) add two goals and two assists, while junior Kyle Rumberger (Hyannis, Mass./Barnstable) recorded a hat-trick to highlight the scoring.

First-year Zachary Brode (Boulder, Colo./Boulder) added two goals, sophomore Devin Higgins (Nantucket, Mass./Nantucket) chipped in with one marker and classmate Ryan Gjerset (Austin, Texas/St. Michael's Catholic Academy) notched four points on one goal and three helpers to help fuel the offense. Sophomore Graydon Cook (Garrison, N.Y./The Masters School) also added two assists to the cause including a slick behind-the-back feed for his first set-up on Rumberger's man-up goal at 8:28 of the second period.

UMass Boston sophomore midfielder Nick Tangherlini (Cohasset, Mass./Cohasset) guided the visitors offensively with two strikes on six shots (five on goal). Junior Noah Ellis (Hingham, Mass./Hingham) and senior Donny Delpha (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) both registered one goal and an assist, while seniors Ryan McGoff (Charlestown, Mass./Winchester) and Joe Johnson (Roxbury, Mass./Gould Academy) found the back of the net once, respectively.

Wheaton went 20-for-20 on its clear attempts, outshot the Beacons by a 55-18 margin, held a 41-29 differential in ground balls and went 13-for-23 at the face-off X. The Blue and White entered today's matchup ranked No. 5 in the country in ground balls per game at 43.0. UMass Boston won ten out of its 23 face-off attempts and went 16-for-24 in transition. The Lyons also were 4-for-5 in extra-man opportunities on the day, three of which came in the first half.

Ahead 2-1 with about ten minutes left to play in the first period, Wheaton used an 8-1 run to close out the half and post a 10-2 gap on the scoreboard. Hillman and Rumberger spearheaded the offensive outburst with two goals apiece, while Higgins, Brode, Gjerset and Morrison also factored into the scoring.

McGoff stopped the Lyons' run at the 3:40 mark of the second period with his 16th goal of the season via a nice feed by Delpha, which also gave UMass Boston some momentum headed into the break.

In the second stanza, the Beacons held their opposition scoreless and netted four goals of their own to cut the deficit to 10-6 with 15 minutes to go in the game. Brode finally broke Wheaton's offensive drought, which spanned nearly 25 minutes after Rumberger scored with 8:28 on the clock in the second, to push the Blue and White's lead to 11-6.

Hillman followed with his 18th goal of the season at 2:39 and Rumberger ripped home a goal 37-seconds later to hold off the comeback bid by UMass Boston.

First-year James Higgins (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) won all of Wheaton's face-offs on the day, while UMass Boston first-year Dan Geraghty (Norwich, Vt./Academy at Swift River) went 5-for-7 after being inserted at the X at the start of the third period.

Lyons' first-year midfielder Griffin Phaneuf (Manchester, N.H./The Derryfield School) and sophomore midfielder Kyle Neale (Brooklyn, N.Y./Saint James School) paced the squad with six ground balls apiece. Sophomore Sean LeBlanc (Marshfield, Mass./Archbishop Williams) also had six ground balls for the Beacons.

Wheaton (7-2) travels to Emerson College this Saturday for a conference matchup at 1 p.m. UMass Boston (4-5) visits Eastern Connecticut State University on Saturday in its league opener at 2 p.m.

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