NORTON, Mass. —  The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team was defeated by visiting Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 22-9, this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Nordin Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.

The Lyons dip to 8-7 overall and 3-4 in NEWMAC play, while the Engineers improve to 13-2 and a perfect 7-0.

MIT held an 8-6 lead midway through the second quarter before closing out the match on a 14-3 run to put the game away. The Engineers committed just nine turnovers in the contests and owned a 31-25 shot advantage, but were extremely efficient with a 70.9% shooting percentage. Wheaton dominated the draw winning 23 of 34 at the X, but were just not able to convert around the net.

Junior attacker Avonlea LeBeau (North Branford, Conn.) and sophomore attacker Lara Finnie (Westfield, Mass.) led the Lyons with three goals apiece. LeBeau also picked up four ground balls and won two draw controls. Senior attacker Jessie Kilburn (North Branford, Conn.) collected four points with two goals and two assists in addition to coming up with three draw controls and classmate Brooke Harvey (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) registered a game-high eight draw controls to go with a goal, an assist and four ground balls. Senior starting goalie Emily Oundjian (Longmeadow, Mass.) denied one of 11 attempts in 13:24 of action, while senior Emily Kelly (Norwell, Mass.) turned back one of nine shots in 33 minutes. First year goalie Katie Geis (Duxbury, Mass.) gave up four goals in 13:36 of action.

Senior attacker Ellie Rabenold (Cincinnati, Ohio) scored seven goals and added an assist to lead MIT and added three ground balls, three draw controls and a caused turnover. Senior attacker Lindsey Gambino (Garden City, N.Y.) and junior midfielder Meredith Arterburn (Cooksville, Md.) each racked up six points, including three goals apiece. Arterburn also added four ground balls, four draw controls and a caused turnover. Sophomore midfielder Sydney Pyon (Garnet Valley, Pa.) and sophomore attacker Julianne Flusche (Ridgewood, N.J.) both netted three goals to give the Engineers five players with three or more goals in the match. Senior starting goalie Abigail Kolyer (Manhasset, N.Y.) turned away four of 10 shots in the first half, before yielding to first year netminder Molly Dulde (Delafield, Wis.), who stopped five of eight shots in the second session.

Finnie scored with 7:37 left in the second quarter to pull Wheaton to within 8-6.

The Engineers took control of the game from that point on, scoring the final six goals of the quarter to take a 14-6 advantage at the intermission. Rabenold and Gambino combined to net four goals in a span of 4:07 before Arterburn found the back of the net with just four ticks left on the second period clock to give the visitors 14 markers.

MIT's offense carried its momentum into the second half, while its defense continued to tighten up. The Engineers tallied all five goals of the third quarter, including a pair from Rabenold and Flusche each, to take a commanding 19-6 cushion after three quarters of play.

Finnie scored just 50 seconds into the fourth quarter to break a scoreless drought of 23:27 for the Lyons to cut the deficit to 19-7. Pyon countered at 11:38 for MIT, before LeBeau scored a pair of goals within a span of 96 seconds for Wheaton to shave the deficit to 20-9.

First year attacker Ashley Thomas (Summit, N.J.) and Arterburn netted the final two goals of the match for the Engineers to give them a 13-goal victory.

LeBeau converted a feed from Kilburn with 11:59 remaining in the opening quarter to put the Lyons on the board and give them a 1-0 edge.

MIT scored the next three goals in a span of 86 seconds with Arterburn scoring just 24 seconds after LeBeau's opening score. Rabenold found the back of the net at the 10:19 mark to give the visitors a 3-1 margin.

Killburn scored with 9:28 left in the period to pull Wheaton to within one at 3-2. Gambino and Harvey each matched goals to keep it a one-goal edge for the Engineers at 4-3 with 7:53 to play in the first quarter. 

MIT scored three of the final four goals of the quarter, including a pair from Rabenold, to take a 7-4 lead into the second quarter.

Harvey found Kilburn for a marker just 21 ticks into the new quarter to pull the home team to within 7-5. Flusche and Finnie traded goals to keep it a two-goal margin at 8-6.

Wheaton is in action again when it heads to Springfield, Mass. to take on conference rival Springfield College at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 22, while the Engineers return to play on the same day when they host NEWMAC foe Clark University at 1:00 p.m.