Bush sets single-game assists record, Ananian becomes all-time wins leader in goal for the Lyons

NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College women's lacrosse team pushed its New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season winning streak to 18-straight games on Wednesday night with a 13-5 victory over Mount Holyoke College on Nordin Field.

Wheaton's last lost in a NEWMAC regular season game came against Babson College by a 15-9 score on April 10, 2012. Since then, the Blue and White have outscored their opposition 250-132, which accounts for a 118 scoring differential. Wheaton has also held 14 opponents under ten goals during that stretch including all three conference opponents this season (Smith, Coast Guard, Mount Holyoke).

Junior Brooke Sabol (Landgrove, Vt./Burr & Burton Academy) led Wheaton with four goals on 11 shots (eight on goal). Senior Melanie Sharick (Amherst, Mass./Amherst) notched a hat-trick, while junior Jenna Tewksbury (Concord, N.H./Concord) and first-year Katie Peters (Medway, Mass./Medway) added two goals apiece. Juniors Madison Cohen (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) and Allie Bush (Kennebunk, Maine/Kennebunk) both found the back of the net once as well.

Bush facilitated the offense with a single-game record eight assists, including five in the first half, to bump her season total to 29. In her last game against Coast Guard, Bush became the all-time assists leader in program history. Bush now has 96 assists total in 49 career games (1.96 per game). Additionally, Bush also entered today's game ranked No. 20 in the country (among 197 ranked student-athletes) in assists and No. 47 in assists per game at 2.10 (among 193 ranked student-athletes).

Senior goalkeeper Katy Ananian (Belmont, Mass./Belmont) stopped six shots to become the all-time wins leader in Wheaton College women's lacrosse program history. Ananian, who now has 44 wins to her credit in 70 games played, surpassed A.J. Vasiliou '05 on the all-time list.

Mount Holyoke senior Kirsten Kilburn (North Branford, Conn./North Branford) paced all scorers with five goals, including two coming via the free position. Junior Catherine Ryan (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow) added an assist on Kilburn's fifth and final goal of the game at the 12:10 mark of the second half to account for Mount Holyoke's scoring.

Sophomore goalkeeper Isa Rodriguez (Columbus, Ohio/Westerville School) made 14 saves in the loss (3-5). Rodriguez has turned away ten or more shots in six contests this season, which includes a 21-save effort against Bowdoin College on March 16.

Wheaton outshot Mount Holyoke, 32-13, held a 39-17 differential in ground balls and compiled a 23-for-29 show on its clear attempts. Mount Holyoke won the draw control battle by a 16-4 margin. Kilburn registered a game-high seven draw controls, while junior Julia Bell (Longmeadow, Mass./Wilbraham & Monson) had four draw controls.

Kilburn struck first for Mount Holyoke with a free position goal at the 24:30 mark of the opening stanza before Wheaton responded with four unanswered goals to take a 4-1 lead.

Kilburn followed with back-to-back strikes at 6:54 and 5:51, respectively, but Sabol countered with three-straight goals to give Wheaton a 7-3 lead at the break.

After Cohen buried her 19th goal of the season at 13:20 of the second half, Kilburn found her stride once again with a pair of consecutive tallies to cut the deficit to 8-5. Tewksbury answered with two goals off feeds by Bush and Wheaton never looked back.

Defensively, senior Kelsey O'Brien (Reading, Vt./Westminster School) and junior Mia Cambi (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow) were solid for the Blue and White on the night. O'Brien caused three turnovers and collected three ground balls, while Cambi caused a team-high four turnovers and picked up five ground balls.

Wheaton (7-4, 3-0 NEWMAC) hosts Babson College on Saturday for a NEWMAC matchup at 1 p.m. Mount Holyoke (4-5, 1-2 NEWMAC) takes on Springfield College in a league contest at home at 12 p.m.

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