NORTON, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) field hockey team was defeated by visiting Salve Regina University, 6-2, this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Nordin Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.

The Lyons fall to 6-5 overall and 0-4 in league play, while the Seahawks improve to 10-1 and 3-1.

Salve Regina held a 26-17 shot advantage and dominated play in the opening half with a 20-7 margin. There were numerous penalty corners called in the match with both teams combining for 22, including 13 for the visiting Seahawks.

Junior forward Riley Levrault (Lakeville, Mass.) and classmate Ally Slicer (Waterford, Maine) tallied the goals for Wheaton.

Junior forward Georgia Costello (North Easton, Mass.) netted a pair of goals and added an assist to lead Salve Regina. Costello was joined by junior forward Julia Decker (Newton, N.J.), sophomore defender Natalie Vaughan (Milton, Mass.), graduate student forward Shannon Kennedy (Royersford, Pa.) and senior forward Kira Spedden (Bolton, Mass.) with goals for Salve Regina.

The Seahawks took a 1-0 edge within the first minute of the contest. Costello fired a shot on frame within the first 40 seconds of the match, before Vaughan controlled the redound near the top of the arc, before ripping a shot that was deflected high in the air in over the Lyon keeper and into the back of the cage with just 52 seconds gone in the match. 

Salve Regina looked to double its lead just under six minutes into the game, but Wheaton junior defender Abby Miller (Andover, Mass.) swatted a high shot out of the air from junior midfielder Angelina Regels (Schenectady, N.Y.). Miller was there again for the Lyons to register her second defensive save against Regels in a span of 16 seconds to keep it a one-goal margin.

Wheaton knotted the game at 1-1 just 40 seconds into the second quarter off a penalty corner. Levrault sent the insert pass to senior forward Delia Knox (Cumberland, Maine), who ripped a shot from the top of the arc on the right side. Levrault slid in from the baseline for the rebound shot that found the back of the cage for her team-high fifth marker of the season.

The Seahawks threatened to reclaim the lead on a penalty corner, just under three minutes later, when Kennedy unleashed a rocket ticketed for the back of the cage, but Miller was there again with her stick for her third defensive save of the night to keep it a 1-1 game with 11:30 showing on the second quarter clock.

Costello scored twice in a span of 33 seconds to give the Seahawks a 3-1 lead with 3:29 left in the second half. Her first goal of the evening came on a penalty corner to give the visitors the lead for good with 4:02 left in the second quarter. She slipped behind the Wheaton keeper and collected a loose ball that squirted out of a crowd of players and settled on her stick, before turning and firing inside the right post for a 2-1 Salve Regina edge. Costello's second goal came on a rebound of her own shot off a sprawling save by the Lyon sophomore keeper Grace Ferguson (Williston, Vt.). She gained possession and fired a backhanded shot for her ninth goal of the year.

The Seahawks took a 3-1 margin into the break, before adding a pair of goals within the first four-plus minutes of the third quarter to take a 5-1 cushion with 10:45 remaining in the quarter. Costello factored into Salve Regina's fourth goal as well, sending a cross past the goalmouth from the right side to Decker, who stopped the ball and swept it behind her inside the near left post for her 12th goal of the year just 3:03 into the quarter. Sophomore midfielder Jordyn Pineau (South Dennis, Mass.) carried the ball down the right side, before firing a shot that was redirected into the cage by Kennedy from the front of the net for her ninth score of the season.

Spedden capped the scoring for the Seahawks on a penalty corner for her fourth goal of the season and the sixth of the game for Salve Regina with 5:36 left in the game. She skipped a shot through a throng of players that eluded the Wheaton keeper and found the back of the cage.

The Lyons tallied the final goal of the night when Slicer dribbled the ball from the left to the center of the arc, before sending a shot into the far right post for her second goal of the season to make it 6-2 with 1:59 to go in the contest.

Senior keeper Bryn Protheroe (Glastonbury, Conn.) turned back six shots for Salve Regina, while Ferguson made 11 saves for the Lyons.

The Seahawks return to action on October 12 when they host No. 6 Babson College in Middletown, R.I. in a NEWMAC match at Noon, while Wheaton hosts conference foe Clark University on the same day and time.