WORCESTER, Mass. -- Senior attackman Lou Mainella (Falmouth, Maine) netted three goals to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) men's lacrosse team over host Clark University, 9-7, this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference action at Granger Field in Worcester, Mass. The Lyons improve to 9-4 overall and 1-4 in league play, while the Cougars fall to 3-9 and 1-4.

Despite Clark owning a 47-31 shot advantage and winning 16 of 20 face-offs, Wheaton's ability to take care of the ball proved crucial. The Lyons committed just 11 turnovers, while the Cougars turned the ball over 20 times. 

Mainella added a caused turnover to his day for Wheaton, while first year midfielder Mike McLaughiin (Stoughton, Mass.) and junior attacker Shane Ross (Hanson, Mass.) each tallied a pair of markers. McLaughlin only took three shots and also recorded a ground ball and a caused turnover, while Ross picked up a pair of ground balls. Senior midfielder Alex Berg (Southport, Conn.) scored a goal, picked up four ground balls and caused a turnover. First year goalie John Drew (North Andover, Mass.) made 15 saves in the victory for the Lyons.

Sophomore attackman Colin Howard (Cincinnati, Ohio) led Clark with a pair of goals to go with three ground balls, while senior attackman Benjamin Hollerbach (West Hartford, Conn.) netted a marker and assisted on three others. He also registered three ground balls and a caused turnover. Mark Zito won 12 of 16 draw controls and picked up six ground balls. Senior goalie Ryan Mickelson (Mattawan, Mich.) stopped seven shots for the Cougars.

Wheaton held off a furious comeback by the home team. The Lyons owned a 9-3 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but the Clark defense held Wheaton without a goal for the entire period, while the Cougars scored four unanswered goals to pull to within 9-7. Hollerback found the back of the net for Clark with 4:44 left in the fourth quarter, but it was the final tally for either team. 

Mainella broke into the scoring column first for the Lyons with 12:14 left in the opening quarter for a 1-0 lead. The Cougars answered with a pair of goals just six seconds apart from Howard and senior attacker Tommy McCarthy (York, Maine) to take a 2-1 lead with 10:41 showing on the first quarter clock. The Lyons scored the final three goals of the first period and both goals in the second quarter to take a 6-2 lead at halftime. Five different scorers contributed to Wheaton's run. McLaughlin found the back of the net for the last marker of the first half and scored the first goal of the second half as well, giving the Lyons a 7-2 advantage with 6:54 to play in the third quarter. McCarthy scored again for Clark to cut the deficit to 7-3. Mainella and Ross both tallied goals prior to the end of the third quarter for Wheaton, including a score from Ross with just 17 ticks left on the clock, to give the Lyons their largest lead of the game at 9-3.

The Lyons return to action on Saturday, April 23 when they host NEWMAC foe Babson College at 4:00 p.m. on Nordin Field, while the Cougars head to Brunswick, Maine on April 20 for a 7:00 p.m. match with Bowdoin College.