WELLESLEY, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's soccer team was defeated by host Wellesley College, 2-0, this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Wellesley Soccer Field in Wellesley, Mass.
The Lyons slip to 3-4-1 overall and 1-2-0 in league play, while the Blue improve to 2-3-0 and 1-1-0.
Wellesley owned a 20-14 shot advantage, while Wheaton was awarded five corner kicks to the home team's total of four.
Sophomore midfielder Elina Saab-Sundén (Stockholm, Sweden) registered her first career multi-goal game for the Blue to lead them to the victory.
Following a scoreless first half for both teams, Wellesley finally broke through, forcing a turnover in Lyons' defensive zone, before scoring in the 57th minute of play. Senior midfielder Remi Fernandez (Valencia, Spain) stepped up to take the ball away in the lower third of the field, before sending it ahead. Senior forward Willa McGough (Plainfield, N.H.) later received the ball at the top of the box, where she played it to Saab-Sundén on her right, who dribbled toward the center of the box, before ripping a shot into the far left corner for her first marker of the year.
The Blue added to their lead just over nine minutes later when Saab-Sundén added her second goal of the match in the 66th minute for a 2-0 lead. The second-year player received the ball outside of the 18-yard box and carried it down the left side of the field, before creating a one-on-one situation with the Wheaton keeper. Saab-Sundén drew within a yard of the goalie on the left post, before lifting a shot over the keeper and into the far right side for her first career multi-goal effort.
The Lyons looked to get on the board before the end of the opening half when first year forward Mackenna Reynolds (Longmeadow, Mass.) collected the ball on the right side off a corner kick and fired a shot into the right post, but the Wellesley keeper denied the try to keep it a scoreless match.
Wheaton was in position for another scoring opportunity late in the contest to cut the deficit in half with under 12 minutes to play. Junior forward Lily Brown (Warwick, R.I.) possessed the ball on the left side of the box, before unleashing a shot that the Blue keeper was able to turn away with a diving stop to her corresponding left.
Sophomore goalie Patricia Bandrup (Poway, Calif.) recorded nine saves for the Lyons, while sophomore keeper Sascha Fleesler (New York, N.Y.) turned away seven shots to post her first career shutout for Wellesley.
Wheaton returns to the pitch on Tuesday, September 26 when it travels to Beverly, Mass. to take on Endicott College at 7:00 p.m., while the Blue head to Milton, Mass. on September 27 to play Curry College at 4:00 p.m.
