Lyons to play Babson in NEWMAC semis next Wednesday

SENIOR NIGHT HIGHLIGHTS

NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College men's lacrosse team earned a 15-7 victory over Mass. Maritime in a conference matchup at Nordin Field on Saturday night.

Prior to the game, Wheaton seniors Alfonse Femino (Malden, Mass./Malden), Matthew Hillman (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) and Joon Suh (Washington, D.C./Westtown School) were all honored for their contributions towards the men's lacrosse program.

Hillman shined in his last home contest of his career with a game-high five goals to pace the Lyons offensively. Sophomore Ryan Gjerset (Austin, Texas/St. Michael's Catholic Academy) contributed two tallies and two assists, while first-year Griffin Phaneuf (Manchester, N.H./The Derryfield School), sophomore Kyle Neale (Brooklyn, N.Y./Saint James School), junior Kyle Rumberger (Hyannis, Mass./Barnstable), classmate Brian Teague (Cross River, N.Y./Salisbury School), sophomore Devin Higgins (Nantucket, Mass./Nantucket), first-year James Holston (Wynnewood, Pa./Haverford School) and sophomore Casey Buchholz (North Granby, Conn./Granby Memorial) all added solo strikes.

Mass. Maritime received two markers from junior Sean Staples (Norwell, Mass./Norwell) and solo tallies via first-years Robert Steinweg (Arnold, Md./Saint Mary's), and Keaghan Bartley (Richmond, Va./Godwin), senior Dylan Freduenberg (Islip, N.Y./St. Anthony's), and sophomores Ryan McNeill (Burlington, Mass./Burlington), and Steven Anderson (Crownsville, Md./Annapolis Area Christian).

Wheaton blanked the Buccaneers 6-0 in the first half as Hillman led the charge with a pair of bookend goals at 13:32 of the opening period and 8:25 of the second.

Gjerset made it 7-0 at the 14:30 mark of the second half before McNeill snapped Mass. Maritime's scoreless drought at 11:02 with his 12th goal of the season on a feed by sophomore Kevin Collins (Hampden, Mass./Minnechaug Regional).

Anderson followed with his 14th tally of the year to make it 7-2 but Wheaton answered with five unanswered goals, which was highlighted by Holston's first collegiate marker at 9:54 to begin the run.

The Lyons concluded the third period with a 13-3 advantage before both teams settled for the final 15-7 score. In the fourth period, Mass. Maritime doubled up Wheaton in the scoring column, 4-2.

Wheaton outshot Mass. Maritime, 54-33, and held a 55-38 advantage in ground balls. The Lyons also went 21-for-26 at the face-off X and 26-for-29 on their clear attempts. First-year James Higgins (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) won 21 out of his 25 face-off attempts on the night and also scooped up a game-high nine ground balls (tied with Neale).

Lyons' junior goalkeeper Ryan Clair (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School) made 11 saves to improve his record to 10-6 on the season. Mass. Maritime junior goalkeeper James Klose (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Saint Joseph) stopped 17 shots in the loss.

Wheaton (10-6, 4-3 NEWMAC) travels to Babson College on Wednesday, April 29 to play the No. 1 seeded Beavers in the NEWMAC Tournament semifinals at a time to be determined later. Mass. Maritime's season comes to a close at 6-10 overall and 1-6 in NEWMAC play.

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