DUDLEY, Mass. – Junior midfielder Mackenzie Yates (Brownsville, Vt.) scored her first collegiate goal and added an assist to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) field hockey team to a 6-0 rout over host Nichols College this afternoon at Vendetti Field in Dudley, Mass.

The Lyons improve to 1-3 on the season, while the Bison fall to 3-2.

The goal tally was the most for Wheaton since a 6-1 victory over Johnson & Wales University on September 25, 2018 in Providence and the margin of victory was the most since a 7-1 win over Anna Maria College on September 12, 2017 in Norton. It was the largest shutout victory for the Lyons since a 6-0 triumph over Regis College (Mass.) on September 5, 2017. 

Yates was one of six different scorers for Wheaton for the most different goal scorers since the aforementioned Anna Maria match.

The Lyons dominated from start to finish with two goals in both the first and second quarters to give them a 4-0 halftime lead, while holding Nichols without a shot during the half. Wheaton finished the match with a 26-6 shot advantage and owned a 9-1 margin on penalty corners.

Yates' first marker came 5:56 into the second quarter, before she assisted sophomore midfielder Lydia Gaudreau (Gorham, Maine) less than two minutes later to bump the Lyons' lead to 4-0.

First year midfielder Mackenna Cooke (Old Saybrook, Conn.) notched her first collegiate point for Wheaton when she found sophomore midfielder Delia Knox (Cumberland, Maine) for the first goal of the day at 10:37 of the opening period. Senior Sophie Shekarchi (Jamestown, R.I.) kept up the pressure for the Lyons, scoring just 32 seconds later with her first goal of the year to make it 2-0.

Wheaton added its fifth goal of the afternoon a little over five minutes into the second half when Cooke racked up her second assist on a feed to Macey Poitras-Cote (Northborough, Mass.) for her second goal of the season to match Knox' season total. 

First year midfielder Riley Levrault (Lakeville, Mass.) also picked up her first career assist with a helper on senior Gabby Monfredo's (Worcester, Mass.) first score of the season coming at 47:47 of the fourth quarter to give the Lyons a 6-0 count.

First year forward Taylor Breen (Shrewsbury, Mass.) paced the home team's offense with a pair of shots on goal.

Senior keeper Emma Lapreziosa (Bowdoinham, Maine) was untested in the first half for Wheaton, before sophomore goalie Neilee Hess (Franklin, Mass.) turned away all five shots she faced in the second half. Senior Megan Fuchs (Woodbury, Conn.) stopped three of seven shots that she saw in the first half for the Bison, while sophomore Sophie Venable (Tory, N.Y.) turned back 11 of 13 shots she faced in the second session.

The Lyons return to action on Tuesday, September 13 when they host Simmons University on Nordin Field at 7:00 p.m., while Nichols heads to Chicopee, Mass. to take on Elms College at 7:00 p.m.