NORTON, Mass. – Senior midfielder Claire Donfield (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) and classmate Julia Markmann (Sønderborg, Denmark) each scored for the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's soccer team in a 2-2 tie with visiting Endicott College this afternoon in a 2-2 tie at Mirrione Stadium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass. 

The Lyons are now 4-4-1 on the season, while the Gulls stand at 5-2-3. Wheaton remains unbeaten at 12-0-2 against Endicott in the all-time series after draws in the last two meetings. The tie was the first for the Lyons since the new NCAA rule-change that eliminated regular-season overtime contests.

Both teams were very active in the match, combining for 36 shots, including 20 for the Lyons. Wheaton also held a 7-5 margin on corner kicks with all seven coming in the second half. 

Sophomore midfielder Riley Rischitelli (North Brookfield, Mass.) scored with 5:34 left to play to pull the Endicott College women's soccer team even at 2-2.

The Gulls took advantage of a defensive breakdown for the Lyons late in the second half to net their second goal in the 85th minute of play. Sophomore forward Grace Jewett (Millis, Mass.) carried the ball into the box and threaded a hard cross to the far left post where Rischitelli finished with a shot just inside the post for her second tally of the season and a 2-2 tie.

The match was a defensive battle for the first 45 minutes with Endicott senior keeper Jacqueline Ruggiero (Hyde Park, Mass.) stopping five shots on net from the home team, before she yielded to sophomore Rosalina Caliri (East Greenwich, R.I.) in the second half. Wheaton junior goalie Gabby Marcus (Austin, Texas) turned away three shots in the opening half.

Any notion that the contest would remain a struggle for the offense was dispelled right away in the second stanza with both teams scoring within a 12-second span in the first 61 seconds of the half.

Donfield wasted no time in testing the new Gull keeper with a goal coming just 49 seconds into the new half. She dribbled to the right side of the box and lofted a shot over the Endicott keeper and into the far right left corner of the back of the net for the first marker of the afternoon and her season.

The Gulls answered right away with a goal coming just 12 seconds later to tie the score at 1-1. Junior midfielder Alexandria Dostie (Essex Junction, Vt.) came into the match late in the first half for Endicott and remained in the match to start the second half, a move that paid dividends right away for the visitors. The midfielder collected a thru-ball in the box on the left side and fired a shot past a diving Marcus to even the score 61 seconds into the period.

Wheaton reclaimed the lead later in the half when first year defender Francesca Freeman (Portland, Maine) picked up her fourth assist and third in the last two games when she served a ball off a left corner kick to the goalmouth, where Markmann re-directed the ball into the back of the net on a flying header. The tally was her second of the season and gave the Lyons a 2-1 lead in the 61st minute of action. 

Marcus finished with eight saves for Wheaton, while Caliri turned away five of seven shots for the Gulls.

The Lyons return to action on Saturday, October 1 when they host No. 17 Massachusetts Institute of Technology in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff at Mirrione Stadium, while Endicott hosts Western New England University in Commonwealth Coast Conference action on September 30 at 4:00 p.m.