NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College field hockey team scored a pair of goals in the first seven-plus minutes of the game to give it all the offense it would need in a 3-1 victory over visiting Nichols College this afternoon on Nordin Field on the campus of Wheaton in Norton, Mass. The Lyons win their second straight match to improve to 2-2 on the , while the Bison fall to 3-2. 

Wheaton owned an 18-11 shot advantage, including 11-5 through two quarters of play, while Nichols held a 6-4 margin on penalty corners. 

Three of the game's four goals were scored in the first nine-plus minutes of the contest and the match was scoreless for the final 37:08 of play with all of the scoring occurring in the first half. 

The Lyons put together a flurry of shots early in the first quarter, capped by junior midfielder Sophie Shekarchi's (Jamestown, R.I.) second goal of the season. Senior midfielder Lindsay Janeczek (Glastonbury, Conn.) found Shekarchi at the five-minute mark for Wheaton with the first of two assists for the afternoon. Janeczek set up senior forward Ellie Williams (Wilbraham, Mass.) just 2:26 later for her second marker as well and a 2-0 Lyons lead. 

The Bison threatened to break into the scoring column with a pair of shots sandwiched around a penalty corner opportunity before senior midfielder Sam Ahaesy (North Dartmouth, Mass.) cut the Nichols' deficit in half with an unassisted tally at the 9:19 mark. 

Senior midfielder Nathalie Paquette (Williston, Vt.) restored the two-goal lead with her first marker of the season to give Wheaton an insurance goal and a 3-1 lead at 22:52 of the first half. 

Nichols was given a player advantage following a penalty committed by the Lyons with 50 seconds left in the second quarter, but could not find the back of the cage, despite having a pair of penalty corner situations. 

Wheaton also looked to add to its lead early in the fourth quarter with four shots and a pair of penalty corners in a span of two minutes, but were denied by the Bisons' defense to keep the Lyons' lead at two scores. 

Sophomore goalie Emma Lapreziosa (Bowdoinham, Maine) turned away seven shots to earn the win for Wheaton, while first year keeper Sophia Venable (Troy, N.Y.) made 12 saves for Nichols.