NORTON, Mass. --  The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's lacrosse team was defeated by visiting No. 19 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 22-7, today in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference contest at Nordin Field on the campus of Wheaton in Norton, Mass. The Lyons fall to 8-4 overall and 0-4 in league play, while the Engineers, who are ranked 19th in the nation in the most recent Nike/USA Lacrosse Magazine Poll, improve to a perfect 10-0 to break the school mark for consecutive wins, erasing the old standard of nine set during the 1969 campaign. MIT is also unblemished in league play at 3-0.

The Engineers scored no fewer than six goals in each of the first three quarters of play, while holding Wheaton to no more than two markers in any quarter. MIT dominated the faceoff, winning 29 of 33 draws and outshot its host, 61-27. The Engineers held a 46-10 advantage in ground balls as well.

Senior attackman Alec Morin (Belmont, Mass.) led Wheaton with four goals on seven shots. Juniors Robert Sullivan (Newton, Mass.) and Shane Ross (Hanson, Mass.) joined first year Mike McLaughlin (Stoughton, Mass.) with a goal apiece. McLaughlin also picked up two ground balls and Sullivan caused a turnover. Senior midfielder Mike Goodwin (Acton, Mass.) registered two ground balls and caused a turnover. First year goalie John Drew (North Andover, Mass.) stopped 12 of 26 shots in the first half for the Lyons, before junior Cory Bannon (Hopkinton, Mass.) turned back three of 11 shots in the second stanza.

Graduate student attackman Ryan Gebhardt (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) netted seven goals and sophomore attacker Heath Nilsen (Carlsbad, Calif.) tallied a career-high seven points, including five goals, to lead MIT. Gebhardt also added four ground balls and a caused turnover for MIT, while Nilsen picked up a ground ball. Deuces were wild for senior midfielder Liam Miller (Padadena, Calif.) who registered two goals, two assists, two ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers. First year midfielder Matthew Sardis (Bernardsville, N.J.) was nearly perfect on the "x" for the Engineers, winning 19 of 20 faceoffs and came up with nine ground balls. Senior goalie Lukas Drexler-Bruce (Denver, Colo.) stopped three of seven shots he faced in the first half, before yielding to juniors David Vapnek (San Diego, Calif.) and Devin McCabe (New Castle, N.H.) in the third and fourth quarters, respectively. Vapnek turned away three of four shots and McCabe vanquished two of four shots.

Nilsen scored an advantage goal just 23 seconds into the game to spark a five-goal outburst from the Engineers within the first seven and a half minutes of the first quarter. Gebhardt added two scores and Nilsen recorded his second of the string as well. Morin broke up the scoring run for Wheaton with the home team's first score coming at 5:49 to make it 5-1. Nilsen scored two of MIT's next three goals, before Morin converted a feed from junior attacker Max Cooper (Tolland, Conn.) with 93 seconds left in the opening period to pull the Lyons to within 8-2. 

Nilsen and Gebhardt both scored to open the second quarter, but Ross found the back of the net for Wheaton 41 seconds after Gebhardt's strike to make it 10-3 with 9:01 remaining in the second quarter. The Engineers scored four of the final five markers of the quarter, including a score from first year midfielder Dylan Nelson (Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.) with just 35 seconds left in the half to give the visitors a 14-4 halftime lead. 

Gebhardt scored a pair of goals to lead a five-goal charge to open the third quarter for MIT and give the Engineers their largest lead of the game at 19-4 with 7:21 showing on the third quarter clock. Morin scored his fourth goal of the game and 17th of the season for the Lyons to make it 19-5 at 3:54. Senior midfielder John Paris (Easton, Md.) scored with 19 ticks left in the quarter to give MIT a 20-5 cushion heading into the final quarter of play.

The teams traded two goals each in the fourth quarter. McLaughlin opened the quarter with a goal for Wheaton, before senior attacker Logan Vawter (Oakland, Calif.) matched him for the Engineers. Sullivan and MIT first year attackman Ethan Robertson (Wheatley Heights, N.Y.) traded the final two markers of the day to close out the scoring.

The Lyons play again when they head to Worcester, Mass. to take on NEWMAC foe Clark University on Saturday, April 16 for a 1:00 p.m. match, while MIT returns against league opponent United States Coast Guard Academy on the same day and time.