NORTHAMPTON, Mass. -- Sophomore forward Lily Brown (Warwick, R.I.) netted a pair of goals to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's soccer team to a 3-1 victory over host Smith College this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at the Smith Soccer Field in Northampton, Mass.

The Lyons improve to 4-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play, while the Pioneers fall to 3-2-2 and 0-1-1.

The match was evenly played, but Wheaton made the most of its chances to come away with the victory.

Neither team was able to break into the scoring column for the majority of the contest until the Lyons put their first marker on the board in the 61st minute of play. 

First year forward Kate Wickenheisser (Oxford, Conn.) scored her team-leading fourth goal of the season on an assist from first year defender Francesca Freeman (Portland, Maine) at the 60:51 mark of the second half to give Wheaton a 1-0 edge.

Brown gave the visitors an insurance goal with 14:04 to play in the match, which proved to be very important as Smith responded just over two minutes later with a score to cut the deficit to 2-1. Freemand found Brown, who dribbled to just outside of the net on the right side, before lifting a shot from 15 yards into the top left corner for her first goal of the season. Junior forward Piper Thompson (Jersey City, N.J.) lofted a cross to the middle of the box, where sophomore forward Riley McKenna (Arlington, Mass.) redirected it with a header for her third goal of the year with 21:57 remaining in the game.

Brown padded the Lyons advantage with a goal coming with just 2:48 to go in the match to give Wheaton a 3-1 lead and Brown her first multiple-goal effort at the collegiate level. The forward collected the ball in front of the net off a cross from Wickenheisser, made a move and fired a shot from 10 yards over the outstretched hands of the home keeper and into the back of the net.

First year keeper Patricia Bandrup (Poway, Calif.) earned her first career win with five saves for the Lyons, while senior goalie Noemi Howland (South Pasadena, Calif.) stopped two shots for the Pioneers.

Wheaton will play again on Wednesday, September 28 when it hosts Endicott College at Mirrione Stadium for a 4:00 p.m. kickoff, while Smith hosts Westfield State University on the same day at the same time.