FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Wheaton College (Mass.) sophomore attacker Lara Finnie (Westfield, Mass.) scored eight goals, but the Lyons were defeated by the host Framingham State University women's lacrosse team, 17-16, today at Maple Street Field in Framingham, Mass.

The Lyons slip to 3-2 on the season, while the Rams improve to 2-2.

Framingham State overcame a four-goal deficit midway through the third quarter, before taking a three-goal margin midway through the fourth quarter. Wheaton reclaimed the lead and held an advantage late in the quarter, but the Rams tallied the final two goals of the match in the last three-plus minutes to come away with the victory.

The Lyons owned a 34-28 shot advantage, but Framingham State was perfect in four free-position opportunities. The Rams managed to come away with the win despite turning the ball over 17 times, while Wheaton committed just 12 miscues.

Finnie netted a career-high eight goals on 11 shots to lead the Lyons' offense and record the seventh-highest single-game goal total in school history. She also added a ground ball, while senior attacker Jessie Kilburn (North Branford, Conn.) and sophomore attacker Sophie Gromala (Killingworth, Conn.) each notched three points with a pair of goals and an assist apiece. Each player won a draw control and Kilburn tacked on a caused turnover. Junior attacker Avonlea LeBeau (North Branford, Conn.) also scored a pair of goals in addition to four draw controls and a ground ball. Senior attacker Brooke Harvey (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) won seven draws to go with four ground balls, a caused turnover, a goal and two assists.

Junior midfielder Rachel Erickson (Dunstable, Mass.) led all scorers with nine points, including eight goals, for Framingham State. She also won five draw controls, picking up two ground balls and caused a turnover. Junior attacker Hannah Guerin (Cumberland, R.I.) registered four goals and two assists, while junior attacker Madison Skiff (Granby, Conn.) and sophomore attacker Leah Green (Chelmsford, Mass.) each found the back of the net twice.

Wheaton owned a 10-6 lead with 8:16 to play in the third quarter before the Rams scored six of the final seven goals of the quarter to take a 12-11 edge. Erickson scored three times during the outburst, including the go-ahead marker of the period with just 15 ticks left on the third quarter clock.

Erickson picked up where she left off for FSU, bookending a pair of goals around a LeBeau score for the Lyons to increase the Framingham State lead to 14-12. Green scored at the 7:52 mark of the final quarter to give the Rams a 15-12 margin. 

The Lyons regrouped and roared back with four unanswered goals, including the last three from Finnie, to give the visitors a 16-15 edge with 4:46 remaining in the contest. 

Erickson found Guerin for the equalizer at 3:23 of the quarter, before she scored the final marker of the game on a free position shot with 82 seconds left in the contest to give the Rams a 17-16 lead.

Green tallied the first goal of the day for Framingham State just 36 seconds into the game on a feed from sophomore middie Molly Lanier (Tyngsboro, Mass.). Neither team scored for the next nine minutes of play until Guerin doubled the home team's lead at 2-0 with 5:19 left in the quarter. 

Wheaton scored the next three goals to close out the quarter, including a pair from Finnie and one from Harvey to take a 3-2 margin. 

The Lyons looked firmly in control for the next 29 minutes of play. Wheaton scored three of the four second quarter goals to take a 6-3 lead into the intermission. Gromala, junior attacker Abigail Mountain (Niantic, Conn.) and Kilburn all hit twine behind the FSU goalie, while Erickson notched the only Rams' marker of the period. 

Killburn scored the first goal of the third quarter at 13:55 for the Lyons, before Framingham State received scores from Skiff and Erickson to pull it to within 7-5 with 11:18 showing in the period. Finnie followed with back-to-back goals to increase Wheaton's lead to 9-5, before Guerin and Gromala traded goals to keep the Lyons' four-goal advantage intact.

Senior goalie Emily Oundjian (Longmeadow, Mass.) stopped six of 19 shots in 53:47 of play, while senior netminder Emily Kelly (Norwell, Mass.) turned back one of five shots in 6:13 for Wheaton. First year goalie Isabella DiMare (Wakefield, Mass.) earned the win for the Rams with 11 saves.

The Lyons return to action on Saturday, March 18 when they head to Worcester, Mass. on to open the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference slate with Clark University at 12:00 p.m., while Framingham State takes on Ohio Northern University on March 14 at 2:00 p.m. in Panama City Beach, Fla.