NORTON, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team opened its season with an 18-5 loss to visiting Roger Williams University this afternoon on Nordin Field on the campus of Wheaton in Norton, Mass. The Lyons dip to 0-1 for the season, while the Hawks improve to 1-1.

Roger Williams outshot Wheaton, 29-21, including a first half that saw the Hawks own a 20-11 shot advantage, which led to an 11-1 halftime score.

Junior attacker Jessie Kilburn (North Branford, Conn.) netted a pair of goals and added a ground ball and two caused turnovers for the Lyons, while sophomore attacker Avonlea LeBeau (North Branford, Conn.) found the back of the net twice as well. First year midfielder Lara Finnie (Westfield, Mass.) netted her first collegiate goal. Junior defender Erin Ortega (Merrimack, N.H.) caused three turnovers and came up with a ground ball. Junior goalie Emily Oundjian (Longmeadow, Mass.) recorded eight saves.

Junior midfielder Mandy Beck (Old Saybrook, Conn.) tallied a career-high seven points, including four goals, to lead the Roger Williams Beck needed just six shots to score her four goals for Roger Williams. Junior midfielder Lily Cunningham (Melrose, Mass.) scored three goals and added an assist to go with three ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers. Junior attacker Ryleigh Cavanaugh (Manchester, N.H.) netted a pair of goals and assisted on two others in addition to picking up a ground ball. The Hawks saw six players score multiple goals in the contest. Junior defender Brooke McErlain (Hampton, N.H.) registered a match-high four ground balls and three caused turnovers for Roger Williams. Senior Hannah Goodwin (Bradford, Mass.) was outstanding in goal for the visitors, turning away 11 shots.

The Hawks opened the game with seven unanswered goals, including two each from senior attacker Nikki Norton (Braintree, Mass.) and graduate student attacker Devon Sarazin (Falmouth, Maine), to take a 7-0 lead with the only goals of the opening quarter. 

LeBeau put Wheaton on the board on a feed from senior midfielder Darien Webb (Hamden, Conn.) just 84 seconds into the second quarter to make it 7-1. Roger Williams scored the final four goals of the quarter, including two from Beck, to take an 11-1 advantage at the intermission. 

Beck netted two of the Hawks' three goals in the third quarter, while Wheaton's Finnie tallied her first career score at the 9:27 mark of the quarter and Kilburn scored to cut the deficit to 13-3. First year attacker Grace Paliseno (Brightwaters, N.Y.) recorded her first collegiate goal as well to give Roger Williams a 14-3 advantage with 2:37 to go in the quarter. 

The Hawks turned in four of the six goals scored in the fourth quarter, including a pair from sophomore attacker Julia Kelley (Foxborough, Mass.). Kilburn and LeBeau each scored for the Lyons, including the final tally of the contest from LeBeau.

Wheaton returns to action on Friday, March 4 when it travels to Gorham, Maine to take on University of Southern Maine at 6:00 p.m., while Roger Williams heads to Bridgewater, Mass. to play Bridgewater State University on March 2 at 4:00 p.m.