NORTON, Mass. – First year midfielder Lydia Gaudreau (Gorham, Maine) scored the eventual game-winning goal to give the Wheaton College (Mass.) field hockey team a 2-1 victory over visiting Springfield College this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference action at Nordin Field on the campus of Wheaton in Norton, Mass. The Lyons improve to 6-5 overall and 2-1 in league play, while the Pride fall to 3-7 and 0-3. 

Wheaton defeats Springfield for the first time since a 5-4 win on October 15, 2011 and gives the Lyons their first winning record in conference play since they began the 2010 campaign with a 4-0 mark and finished the year at 6-2. Wheaton has also won back-to-back league games for the first time since 2011 when it defeated Smith College and Clark University on October 22 and October 23, respectively. 

The Lyons dominated possession of the game, outshooting their guests, 23-6, including 13-2 in the fourth quarter, while holding a 11-2 advantage in penalty corners. 

Wheaton tied the match at 1-1 just 3:27 into the second half. Gaudreau possessed the ball on the left side, before threading a cross to the front of the goal mouth, where junior midfielder Sophie Shekarchi (Jamestown, R.I.) was waiting for a one-timer that resulted in her team-leading seventh goal of the season. 

Gaudreau tallied her own goal just minutes into the fourth quarter when she blasted a shot from the top of the circle on the insert pass from junior defender Bridget Healy (Holyoke, Mass.) to give the Lyons a 2-1 lead with 12:45 left in the final quarter. 

The Pride broke into the scoring column first with just four ticks left on the second quarter clock to take a 1-0 edge going into the intermission. Sophomore Emma Robinson (Wilbraham, Mass.) kept the ball in the Wheaton zone and found sophomore forward Kaitlyn Plummer (Naples, Maine) in a scrum in front of the cage for her second marker of the year. 

Sophomore keeper Emma Lapreziosa (Bowdoinham, Maine) made just two saves to earn the win for the Lyons, while first year goalie Lyndsey DeLasho (Croton on the Hudson, N.Y.) turned away seven shots for Springfield. 

Wheaton returns to action when they travel to Worcester, Mass. to take on NEWMAC foe Clark University at 12:00 p.m., while the Pride host Babson College in conference play at noon.