Tewksbury scores hat-trick in the loss

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Wheaton College women's lacrosse team had its 20-game New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season winning streak snapped by No. 20 nationally ranked Springfield College, 9-8, on Saturday afternoon at Stagg Field.

Lyons' junior Jenna Tewksbury (Concord, N.H./Concord) recorded a hat-trick to lead the offense. Sophomore Angela Mallis (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) potted two goals, while juniors Brooke Sabol (Landgrove, Vt./Burr & Burton Academy) and Madison Cohen (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) and senior Melanie Sharick (Amherst, Mass./Amherst) all chipped in with solo tallies.

Senior Kelsie Jenquine (Brunswick, Maine/Brunswick) dished out a career-high three assists in addition to two ground balls and one draw control. Junior Allie Bush (Kennebunk, Maine/Kennebunk) added two assists to push her program record total to 104.

Springfield graduate student Kerstin Lindrooth (Bryn Athyn, Pa./Academy of the New Church) produced a six-point game scoring four goals and setting up two others. Junior Bianca Raniolo (Yorktown, N.Y./Yorktown) contributed two goals, while Heather Raniolo (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown), Shelby Corsano (Bourne, Mass./Bourne) and Kristina Krull (Leicester, Mass./Phillips Exeter) had one goal each.

The Pride outshot Wheaton, 21-17, but the Lyons held a 23-19 advantage in ground balls and also turned in an 11-8 margin in draw controls. The Blue and White went 14-for-22 in transition, while Springfield was 18-for-27 on its clear attempts.

Wheaton senior goalkeeper Katy Ananian (Belmont, Mass./Belmont) and sophomore Gabriella Anderson (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) were even in the saves column at seven apiece.

Tied 4-4 at the half, Springfield needed just 26-seconds to reclaim the lead, 5-4, as B. Raniolo carried the ball behind the cage before finding Corsano cutting down the middle for a goal.

At the 27:56 mark, H. Raniolo found Lindrooth all alone near the crease for her fourth goal of the contest, as the Pride extended its advantage to a pair, before Cohen rifled home a free position chance to cut the Lyons' deficit to one with 24:50 remaining.

After picking up a loose ball in the crease, H. Raniolo found B. Raniolo near the crease, who banked a shot off the right post and into the back of the net to give Springfield a two-goal advantage with 19:38 remaining. Just one minute later, Krull gave the Pride its biggest lead of the afternoon after finishing off a feed from Lindrooth to put the hosts ahead, 8-5, with 18:38 left.

Wheaton cut its deficit to two when Sabol found Mallis who tucked a shot into the bottom right corner of the net from the doorstep to make it 8-6 with 16:48 left in the contest.

With just under 11:00 remaining in the game, Lindrooth picked up a ball in the defensive zone and cleared the ball the length of the field, before dishing a pass to B. Raniolo at the last second for a point-blank finish to give the Pride a 9-6 lead.

Wheaton brought Springfield's lead back to two goals only moments later when Sharick took a pass from Bush and buried a shot with 9:07 left in the contest.

Coming out of a timeout, Bush found a cutting Mallis with 2:19 remaining to cut Springfield's lead to just one, but Springfield was able to fend off the late rally from the Lyons, and escaped with the 9-8 victory.

Wheaton's last lost in a NEWMAC regular season game prior to today came against Babson College by a 15-9 score on April 10, 2012. From that point forward and prior to today's game, the Blue and White outscored their opposition 279-146, which accounts for a 133 scoring differential. Wheaton also held 16 of its opponents under ten goals during that stretch including all five conference opponents this season (Smith, Coast Guard, Mount Holyoke, Babson, Emerson).

Wheaton (9-5, 5-1 NEWMAC) travels to MIT on Wednesday, April 15 for a NEWMAC clash scheduled for 7 p.m. Springfield (11-2, 5-0 NEWMAC) will return to action on Wednesday, as well, when it visits Smith College to take on the Pioneers at 7 p.m.

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