NORTON, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's lacrosse team was defeated by visiting Roger Williams University, 12-8, this evening at Nordin Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.

The Lyons dip to 4-1 on the season, while the Hawks improve to 2-1.

Roger Williams dominated the faceoff by a count of 16-8, which helped contribute to a 42-27 shot advantage for the game. The Hawks controlled the loose balls as well with a 39-25 margin on ground balls.

Senior attackman Kevin Murphy (Ramsey, N.J.) scored a career-high four times to lead Roger Williams and added three ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers. Sophomore attacker Ryan Vendetti (Farmington, Conn.) tallied four points on a personal-best three goals and an assist in addition to three ground balls and a caused turnover, while junior attacker Matt Halpin (Hanover, Mass.) also netted three goals and added an assist and caused a turnover. Senior midfielder Jordan Pivarnik (Trumbull, Conn.) controlled the middle of the field, winning 11 of 17 faceoffs and picking up a game-high eight ground balls and junior defender Tyler Zanini (Hopkinton, Mass.) picked up four ground balls to go with a pair of caused turnovers. Sophomore goalie Max Kimmel (Milford, Conn.) earned the victory with 10 saves for the Hawks.

Sophomore midfielder Charlie Racine (Oradell, N.J.) led Wheaton with three goals and an assist in addition to scooping up four ground balls, while senior midfielder Shane Ross (Hanson, Mass.) netted a pair of goals and caused a pair of turnovers. Sophomore midfielder Mike McLaughlin (Stoughton, Mass.) registered three points with a goal and two assists and picked up a ground ball. Junior defender Jacob Wharton (Worcester, Mass.) led the defense with a game-high four caused turnovers and also came up with five ground balls. Sophomore netminder John Drew (North Andover, Mass.) stopped 13 shots for the Lyons.

Junior midfielder Alden Leadley (Scarborough, Maine) and McLaughlin netted the first two goals of the game in a 57-second span to give Wheaton a 2-0 lead with 11:34 to play in the opening quarter. 

Roger Williams countered with three straight goals, including the final marker of the first quarter and two more to open the second period. Vendetti, junior attackman Brian Gazard (Ashland, Mass.) and Murphy all scored to give the visitors a 3-2 edge with 9:33 left in the second quarter. 

The Lyons reclaimed the lead after Ross scored on a feed from Racine and sophomore midfielder Jack Board (Westborough, Mass.) took a pass from McLaughlin before finding the back of the net at the 4:44 mark of the quarter to give Wheaton a 4-3 edge. It was the last lead of the night for the home team as the Hawks scored the next three goals.

Vendetti knotted the game at 4-4 at 2:59 and Halpin scored with just 38 ticks left in the opening half to give Roger Williams a 5-4 lead heading into the break.

Senior attackman Noah Ravas (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) scored 52 seconds into the third quarter to increase the Hawks' margin to 6-4.

Roger Williams countered every goal from Wheaton with two of their own for the remainder of the quarter. Racine scored for the Lyons just 12 seconds after Ravas, before Murphy and Halpin tallied a goal each to give the Hawks an 8-5 advantage. 

Racine scored again for Wheaton, but Halpin and Murphy teamed again with goals separated by 62 seconds to increase the Roger Williams cushion to 10-6 before the end of the third quarter.

The Lyons and Hawks traded goals in the fourth period to keep it a four-goal margin before the final horn sounded. Racine and Vendetti scored within 40 seconds of each other and Ross and Murphy closed out the contest with a goal apiece.

Wheaton is in action again on Saturday, March 11 when it heads to Poughkeepsie, N.Y. to take on Vassar College at 1:00 p.m., while Roger Williams returns to the turf on March 4 when it hosts Emerson College at 1:00 p.m.