SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's soccer team was defeated by host Springfield College, 3-1, this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Brock-Affleck Field in Springfield, Mass.

The Lyons dip to 7-7-1 overall and 4-4 in league play, while the Pride improve to 8-4-1 and 6-2-0.

Despite being outshot 15-4 in the opening half, Wheaton netted the first goal of the night, before Springfield scored twice in the first half and added another marker in the second stanza to close the match with three unanswered goals. The Pride owned a 27-11 shot advantage and boasted a 4-1 margin in corner kicks.

Senior midfielder Kaleigh Dale (Mansfield, Conn.) netted a pair of goals to lead Springfield with both coming in the first half.

Senior forward Sadie Recht (Los Angeles, Calif.) continued her offensive onslaught for the Lyons, scoring her league-leading ninth goal of the season to extend her point-scoring streak to five straight games. Senior midfielder Gaby Diaz (Lynn, Mass.) found her for a marker that ended up in the lower right part of the net in the 18th minute of play to give Wheaton a 1-0 edge.

The lead held up for nearly 15 minutes before Dale scored both of her goals in a span of six minutes to give the Pride the lead for good at 2-1. Dale took a deflected shot from first year midfielder Kaitlyn Suller (Oveido, Fla.) and went bar down to even the game at 1-1 in the 33rd minute for Springfield. Dale's team-high sixth goal of the year put Springfield in the lead after scoring on an assist from junior forward Jen Walker (Webster, Mass.) in the 39th minute of the first half.

The Pride added an insurance goal early in the second half to take a 3-1 lead. First year forward Meredith Healy (Niantic, Conn.) scored on a feed from sophomore defender Kate Minoudis (Columbia, Conn.) just 2:45 into the second session for Springfield. 

Wheaton had a chance to cut into the Pride's lead at 55:54 when Diaz took a deep shot on goal, but had the shot ring off the crossbar, and later senior forward Trinity Cloud (Seekonk, Mass.) had a similar result in the 77th minute, which kept the Lyons' down two goals. 

Recht finished the contest with four shots, including three on net for the Lyons.

First year keeper Patricia Bandrup (Poway, Calif.) registered eight saves for Wheaton, while senior goalie A. Harper (Taylorsville, Utah) made four saves for the Pride.

The Lyons will be in action again on Saturday, October 22 at 1:00 p.m. when they host NEWMAC foe Clark University at Mirrione Stadium, while Springfield travels to Worcester, Mass. on October 26 to take on the same Clark team at 7:00 p.m.