NORTON, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's lacrosse team was defeated by visiting Emerson College, 16-8, this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference action at Nordin Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass. The Lyons dip to 7-2 overall and 0-2 in league play, while the Lions improve to a school-record best 10-1 overall mark following their sixth straight victory and are now 1-0 in league play.

Despite the shot totals being close to even with Wheaton holding a 53-52 edge, Emerson won 15 of 25 faceoffs and owned a 41-25 margin on ground balls.

The Lions outscored their hosts in each of the first three quarters and held a 15-4 lead going into the final quarter of play. 

Junior attacker Shane Ross (Hanson, Mass.) led the Lyons' offense with four goals, while senior midfielder Alex Berg (Southport, Conn.) netted a goal, picked up a pair of ground balls and caused a turnover for Wheaton. First year defender Michael Fanning (Needham, Mass.) registered six ground balls and sophomore defender Jacob Wharton (Worcester, Mass.) picked up a ground ball and caused two turnovers. First year goalie John Drew (North Andover, Mass.) stopped 10 of 25 shots in 45 minutes of play, before junior goalie Cory Bannon (Hopkington, Mass.) turned away three of four shots in the fourth quarter of play.

Senior midfielder Skyler Celotto (Westport, Conn.) scored six goals and added an assist to lead Emerson and added a ground ball. Sophomore attacker Birk Swan (Palos Verdes, Calif.) led all players with eight points, including four goals to go with a ground ball. Graduate student attackman Austin Franklin (New Bedford, Mass.) netted three goals and added a ground ball. Senior midfielder Peirce Eldredge (Media, Pa.) paced the defensive effort with seven ground balls and a caused turnover. Senior goalie Malcolm McGrath (Ridgefield, Conn.) was outstanding between the pipes for the Lions with 20 saves.

Senior attacker Lou Mainella (Falmouth, Maine) opened the scoring for the Lyons with a goal coming just 81 seconds into the contest. Swan scored back-to-back goals to give the Lions a 2-1 edge with 10:18 left in the opening quarter. Ross pulled Wheaton even at 7:21 with a goal. Emerson netted the next three goals, including two from Celotto, to take the lead for good at 5-2. Senior attacker Alec Morin (Belmont, Mass.) scored as the horn sounded for the Lyons to make it a 5-3 game after the first quarter of action.

The Lions dominated the second quarter, outscoring the Lyons, 6-1, to increase their lead to 11-4 by the end of the second session. Celotto scored three times, while Ross tallied the lone goal in the quarter for Wheaton.

Emerson scored the last two goals of the first half with one each from Swan and Celotto and continued its momentum, netting all four goals of the third quarter to take its largest lead of the contest at 15-4. Skyler and Swan netted the first two goals of the frame with a man-advantage for the visitors.

The Lyons scored the first four goals of the fourth quarter, including two markers from Ross and one each from senior midfielder Mike Goodwin (Acton, Mass.) and Berg to cut the margin to 15-8. Franklin capped the scoring for the Lions, taking a feed from Swan to net the final goal of the afternoon to make it 16-8.

Wheaton returns to play on Wednesday, March 30 when it hosts Emmnanuel College (Mass.) at Nordin Field for a 7:00 p.m. start, while Emerson welcomes Clark University for a NEWMAC match on April 2 at 7:00 p.m.