NORTON, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) field hockey team was unable to overcome two fourth-quarter goals by visiting Springfield College in a 3-1 loss this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference action at Nordin Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons dip to 4-12 overall and 1-6 in conference play, while the Pride improve to 6-9 and 2-5.
All four goals in the game were scored in the second half. Springfield owned a commanding 15-4 shot advantage and a 4-2 margin on penalty corners.
First year midfielder Hailey Gaydos (Newington, Conn.) tallied a pair of goals to lead the visitors.
The Pride tallied a pair of goals in a span of 2:52 to break a 1-1 tie and take a two-goal margin in the fourth quarter. Graduate student forward Kaitlin Bardellini (Northfield, N.H.) sent a short cross to Gaydos in front of the cage, before she fired a shot into the right side of the frame to give the Pride the lead with 8:38 left in the match.
Gaydos extended her NEWMAC goal-scoring lead with her 13th marker of the year to increase the visitor's advantage with an insurance goal coming with 5:46 remaining in the contest. Senior midfielder Emma McLaughlin (Norwalk, Conn.) sent a cross into the goalmouth, before Gaydos fired a shot that was initially stopped by the Wheaton keeper, but the shot had just enough momentum to continue past the goal line for the score.
The Lyons opened the game's scoring with a goal just 2:56 into the third quarter to take 1-0 edge. Junior midfielder Lydia Gaudreau (Gorham, Maine) smacked the ball into the goalmouth, where sophomore forward Riley Levrault (Lakeville, Mass.) collected the ball with her back to the cage, spun around and fired a shot just inside the right post for her third marker of the year.
The lead was short-lived for the Lyons with Springfield scoring the first of three straight goals, less than five minutes later, to knot the contest at 1-1. Senior midfielder Audrey Dolan (Westminster, Mass.) sent a long cross into the arc, where Bardellini was camped just in front of the left slot. Bardellini was able to get a stick on it and sent a trickling shot between the Wheaton keeper's feet and into the back of the cage to pull the Pride even at 1-1 midway through the quarter.
The Lyons looked to pull to within a goal late in the fourth quarter when Levrault took advantage of open space on the right side of the goalmouth and fired a hard shot, but Springfield senior keeper Remy Niland (Marshfield, Mass.) was there for the stop to keep it a two-goal margin.
Senior goalie Emma Lapreziosa (Bowdoinham, Maine) registered four saves for Wheaton, while Niland finished with a pair of saves for the Pride.
The Lyons head to South Hadley, Mass. for their next contest, facing Mount Holyoke College on Saturday, October 21 at 12:00 p.m. Springfield also travels to Western Massachusetts on the same day when it heads to Northampton, Mass. to take on NEWMAC foe Smith College at 1:00 p.m.
