NORTHAMPTON, Mass. -- Junior middie Brooke Harvey (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) and senior midfielder Darien Webb (Hamden, Conn.) each tallied four goals to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team over host Smith College, 14-13, this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at the Smith Turf Field in Northampton, Mass. The Lyons win their third straight and eight of their last nine to improve to 8-2 for their best start in school annals since 2004. Wheaton is now a perfect 3-0 in league play. The Pioneers fall to 5-5 and 1-2.

Harvey won 12 draw controls and added a pair of ground balls for Wheaton, while Webb caused a turnover and registered a draw control. First year attacker Lara Finnie (Westfield, Mass.) netted three goals and sophomore attacker Avonlea LeBeau (North Branford, Conn.) scored twice in addition to a pair of draw controls and a caused turnover. Senior defender Mia Murray (Kennebunk, Maine) led all players with four caused turnovers and added three ground balls. Junior goalie Emily Kelly (Norwell, Mass.) picked up the win, stopping two of eight shots in 36:05 of play, while classmate Emily Oundjian (Longmeadow, Mass.) turned away three of 10 shots in 23:55 of action.

Junior attacker Stella Alphas (Weston, Mass.) led the Smith offense with three goals and was one of five Pioneers with multiple goals. Alphas also recorded seven draw controls and four ground balls, while sophomore attacker Gia Arancio (Smithtown, N.Y.) netted a pair of goals, assisted on a score, picked up two ground balls and caused three turnovers. First year attacker Sadie Tschider (Piedmont, Calif.) and sophomore midfielder Jennie Arancio (Smithtown, N.Y.) each tallied three points with two goals and an assist. Senior goalie Alyssa Schams (South Lyon, Mich.) made nine saves for Smith.

Alphas scored with 6:05 left in the second quarter to cap a six-goal run and give the Pioneers a 7-5 lead. The Lyons answered in kind with seven unanswered markers to take a 12-7 advantage with 14:09 to play in the fourth quarter. Webb scored three straight goals to ignite the rally, including the final score of the first half and a player-down goal to begin the third quarter. Her tally at the 7:09 mark of the quarter reclaimed the lead for Wheaton at 8-7 for the third lead change of the game. Harvey scored two of the next four Lyons' goals, including the second of two in a 29-second span to give the visitors a 12-7 margin.

Jennie Arancio paused Wheaton's scoring surge with a Smith marker at 13:50 of the final quarter to pull the home team to within 12-8. LeBeau scored just 70 seconds later and Harvey tallied the final Wheaton goal just 66 ticks after that to give the Lyons a seemingly comfortable 14-8 lead with 11:14 remaining in the contest.

The Pioneers' defense shut Wheaton down for the rest of the quarter and the Smith offense began to chip away at the six-goal deficit. Junior attacker Sydney Havlick (Murrieta, Calif.) scored at 7:32 of the quarter and Alphas converted a free position opportunity just 40 seconds later to make it 14-10. The Lyons kept their host off the board for the next five minutes, but the Pioneers put together a three-goal flurry in a span of 35 seconds, including a marker from Alphas with 69 seconds left in the game to pull Smith to within a goal at 14-13. Wheaton's defense held strong and turned back the Pioneers' comeback bid to hold on for the victory.

The Lyons opened the contest with three goals within the first four and a half minutes, including two from Finnie to take a 3-0 lead with 10:39 showing on the first quarter clock. Junior midfielder Reese Gittelman (Ocean City, Md.) broke through for the Pioneers at the 9:47 mark to put them on the board in the first quarter at 3-1. Harvey and Webb scored within 69 seconds of each other to increase Wheaton's advantage to 5-1. 

Tschider tallied the final goal of the opening quarter and Smith scored the first five goals of the second quarter, including two from Gia Arancio and the marker from Alphas to give the Pioneers a two-goal lead.

The Lyons return to play on Wednesday, April 6 when they travel to Westfield, Mass. to take on Westfield State University at 7:00 p.m., while Smith heads to Cambridge, Mass. to play NEWMAC rival Massachusetts Institute of Technology on April 9 at 1:00 p.m.