SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The sixth-seeded Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team was unable to recover from an offensive surge from host number three seed Springfield College this afternoon in a 16-9 loss in the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Tournament Quarterfinals at Stagg Stadium in Springfield, Mass.

The Lyons finish their season at 10-8 on the season, while the Pride improve to 11-7 and advance to the Semifinals to take on second-seeded Babson College on May 3 at 5:00 p.m. in Babson Park, Mass.

Wheaton owned a 4-2 lead after one quarter of play and led 5-4 midway through the second quarter, but Springfield reeled off seven unanswered goals between the end of the second quarter and into the middle of the third quarter to take an 11-5 advantage. The Lyons tried to get back into the match with four straight goals to close to within 11-9, but the home team tallied all five of the fourth period goals to come away with the win.

The Pride owned a 34-21 shot advantage, including 10-3 in the final period of play. Wheaton made the most of its free position opportunities with three goals in six attempts.

Senior attacker Brooke Harvey (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) cemented her place in Lyons lore as the most skilled player to take the draw control at Wheaton, breaking the school's career record for draw controls with 201, despite missing parts of two seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and establishing the program standard for draw controls in a season with 95. Harvey led all scorers with four goals in the match and added five draw controls and a ground ball. Junior attacker Avonlea LeBeau (North Branford, Conn.) netted three goals and senior attacker Jessie Kilburn (North Branford, Conn.) found the back of the net twice to go with an assist, six draw controls and a ground ball. Junior defender Ailise Cannon (Kensington, N.H.) recorded three caused turnovers for the Lyons and senior goalie Emily Oundjian (Longmeadow, Mass.) stopped 11 shots.

Five players registered multiple goals for Springfield, led by senior attacker Arielle Johnson (Woodstock, Conn.), who tallied a game-high seven points on three goals and four assists to go with a pair of ground balls and a caused turnover. Graduate student midfielder Jade O'Connor (Baltimore, Md.) and junior midfielder Maddie Roy (Wilbraham, Mass.) each netted three goals. First  year middie Sarah Newton (Colchester, Conn.) contributed with two goals, three assists and two ground balls. Senior goalie Emily McDermott (Marshfield, Mass.) drew the starting assignment for the home team and stopped three of eight shots in the first half, before yielding to junior Haley Moody (Wells, Maine), who turned away five of nine shots in the final 30 minutes of action.

O'Connor netted the first marker of the day with 8:39 to play in the opening quarter to give the Pride a 1-0 edge. LeBeau countered just 28 ticks later for Wheaton to knot the game on a free position shot. Newton found Roy at the 6:31 mark to reclaim the lead for Springfield, but the Lyons scored the next three goals, including a pair from Harvey to give them a 4-2 margin after one period of play. Kilburn scored in the quarter as well, converting a pass from senior Erin Ortega (Merrimack, N.H.) at 2:36.

Senior attacker Lauren Landino (South Windsor, Conn.) (10:58) and sophomore midfielder Samantha Andresen (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) (9:22) scored the first two markers of the second period for the Pride to knot the game at four goals apiece. Harvey answered less than a minute later for Wheaton with a nifty flip shot to give it a 5-4 lead with 8:39 showing on the second quarter clock. 

The Lyons turned the ball over and Andresen carried the intercepted ball across midfield and into the Springfield offensive zone, where she found Johnson for the tying score with 6:27 remaining in the quarter. The Pride took the lead for good when O'Connor fired a shot that appeared to leave her stick after the shot clock had hit zeroes, but the marker stood and the home team owned a 6-5 edge that stood up until the intermission.

Springfield took control of its own destiny with the first five goals of the third period, including a marker from Roy just 44 seconds into the new half. Roy tallied another goal at 11:29 and O'Connor took advantage of Wheaton being down a player due to a penalty and scored with 8:37 to play in the quarter to give the home team an 11-5 advantage.

Kilburn finally snapped the Pride's offensive barrage with a free position goal coming at 6:25 of the third period to ignite a four-goal string for the Lyons. LeBeau followed Kiburn's example with a pair of goals separated by just 38 seconds, before Harvey capped the burst with Wheaton's final goal of the day with 2:15 to go in the third period to pull the Lyons to within 11-9.

Springfield's defense stymied Wheaton and held it to just three shots in the final period, while the Pride offense produced five goals on 10 shots. Newton and Johnson each scored two goals apiece to close out the game for the home team.