NORTON, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) field hockey team was defeated by visiting No. 19 Wesleyan University, 9-1, this evening at Nordin Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons fall to 4-10 on the season, while the Cardinals, who are ranked in the most recent National Field Hockey Coaches Association poll, improve to 8-4.
The goal total is the most for Wesleyan since a 12-0 win over Salve Regina University on October 19, 2010.
Seven different players tallied goals, including two each from sophomore forward Georgia Adams (Andover, Mass.) and senior forward Ava Galdenzi (North Branford, Conn.) for WU.
The Cardinals controlled possession for the majority of the match, owning a 30-3 shot advantage, including 10-0 in the opening period. Wesleyan held a 6-2 margin on penalty corners.
The Cardinals scored their first two markers in a span of 40 seconds in the first quarter, but the Wheaton defense held its guests to just those two scores in the opening half, while scoring a goal of its own for a 2-1 halftime count.
Wesleyan broke the game open with five unanswered goals in the third period to take a 7-1 lead, before adding two more markers in the final quarter of play.
The Cardinals got on the board with exactly four minutes left in the opening quarter when Adams streaked into the goal mouth, where she received a cross from junior midfielder Kenzie Kelly (Needham, Mass.) and delivered the goal-scoring strike for a 1-0 edge.
Kelly factored into the second Wesleyan goal just 40 seconds later, slipping a cross to the right slot to sophomore midfielder Sydney Cameron (East Norriton, Pa.), who finished into the far left post for her third marker of the year.
The Lyons scored just 42 ticks into the second quarter to cut the deficit in half at 2-1. Junior midfielder Lydia Gaudreau (Gorham, Maine) possessed the ball with her back to the cage on the left side, before spinning with a shot that was turned away by the Cardinals' keeper. First year forward Ally Slicer (Waterford, Maine) was there with a rebound shot that found the back of the cage for her team-leading sixth goal of the season for the home team.
Wesleyan was held without a score in the second quarter and took a 2-1 edge into the second half, before erupting for five goals in a span of 6:05 to dramatically increase its lead to 7-1 and effectively put the contest out of reach with 5:18 remaining in the third period.
Adams opened the scoring barrage for the Cardinals with her second tally of the night and team-high 13th of the year just 3:37 into the quarter. Galdenzi followed with her first goal of the season on a feed from junior back Imani Ochieng (Pottstown, Pa.) with 8:19 to go in the period. Junior forward Annabel Cincotta (Lexington, Mass.) followed with the visitors' third straight goal of the stretch just 1:18 later for a 5-1 margin. First year forward Sarah Porter (Fayetteville, N.Y.) found Galdenzi for her second score of the night 66 seconds later, before junior midfielder Helen Deretchin Circleville, N.Y.) found the back of the cage just 39 seconds after that for her fourth season goal and a 7-1 Wesleyan cushion.
Porter joined her teammates in the goal-scoring column with her fourth goal of the year coming 2:11 into the fourth quarter for the Cardinals. Wesleyan remained quiet for nearly the rest of the match, before senior forward Melanie Lim (Haverford, Pa.) tallied her first goal of 2023 with 29 ticks left on the game clock.
Sophomore goalie Audrey Pace (Los Gatos, Calif.) faced just one shot in the opening 15:42 of action for the Cardinals, before yielding to junior keeper Athena Vadnal (Shaker Heights, Ohio) for the remaining 44:18. She turned away both shots she faced. Senior goalie Emma Lapreziosa (Bowdoinham, Maine) recorded 12 saves for Wheaton to give her 440 stops for her career to move into fifth on the Lyons' career saves list.
Wesleyan returns to action on October 14 when it travels to Williamstown, Mass. to take on No. 9 Williams College in New England Small College Athletic Conference play at 12:00 p.m., while Wheaton hosts New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference rival Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Nordin Field at Noon.
