Box Score NORTON, Mass. – First year midfielder Nevaeh Petruzzi (Exeter, N.H.) recorded a hat trick and added an assist for a seven-point effort to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's soccer team to a 9-0 victory over visiting Mount Holyoke College this afternoon in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference match at Mirrione Stadium on the campus of Wheaton in Norton, Mass. The Lyons improve to 7-3-2 overall and 3-1-1 and are unbeaten in seven of their last eight matches, while boasting a number five ranking in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Region II Poll. MHC falls to 2-6-0 and 0-4-0.
The goal total is the fifth-highest for Wheaton and marks the 11th time the squad has tallied nine or more goals in a match. Petruzzi's point total ranks 10th on the school's all-time list for points in a match and marks the first time a Wheaton player has totaled seven or more points since Hannah Lepordo scored three times and added an assist against Curry College on September 13, 2017. She is also just the fourth first year player to notch at least seven points in a game for Wheaton.
Wheaton dominated the match, outshooting its guests, 37-3, including 23-2 in the second stanza. The home Lyons also owned a 7-0 margin on corner kicks.
Wheaton held a 1-0 edge at the intermission, before erupting for an eight-goal barrage that began just over seven minutes into the second half.
Petruzzi registered her hat trick with three goals in succession in a span of 6:40. Her first marker came unassisted in the 53rd minute, before scoring again just 49 seconds later on a feed from senior Jaime Rattenni (West Greenwich, R.I.). Petruzzi added another unassisted tally in the 59th minute for her fifth goal of the season and a 4-0 lead for the home team.
Wheaton went almost 11 minutes without scoring, before putting five more goals on the board in a span of 12-plus minutes.
Junior midfielder Sadie Recht (Los Angeles, Calif.) netted two of those goals for the Lyons to notch the first multi-goal game of her career, while junior midfielder Julia Markmann (Sønderborg, Denmark) scored her first collegiate marker in between the Recht goals with an assist from Recht.
First year forward Lily Brown (Warwick, R.I.) tallied her second goal in as many games on a cross from sophomore midfielder Mackenzie Paulo (West Springfield, Mass.) in the 79th minute.
Appropriately enough on the team's Senior Day, Rattenni scored the final goal of the afternoon in the 82nd minute to cap an offensive explosion that was begun by fellow senior Chloe Troy (Wethersfield, Conn.) in the 26th minute of the first half, giving both seniors a team-high six goals for the season.
First year midfielder Hannah Keochakian (Amherst, Mass.) and junior forward Fionna Kennedy (Wilton, N.H.) each put a shot on frame to pace the offense for Mount Holyoke.
Senior keeper Kaitlin Gossart (Durham, Conn.) registered two saves to record her second career shutout for Wheaton, while sophomore goalie Shannon Breen (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) made 11 stops for Mount Holyoke.
Gossart, Rattenni and Troy were joined by classmate Amanda Dunton (Huntington Beach, Calif.) in a pre-game ceremony to honor the women's soccer program's seniors.
The Lyons return to action on Wednesday, October 13 when they head to Boston, Mass. to take on NEWMAC rival Emerson College at 6:00 p.m., while MHC hosts Clark University in league action on the same day at the same time.
