NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) field hockey team was defeated by visiting Smith College, 4-0, this afternoon at Nordin Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons dip to 9-9 and 2-7, while the Pioneers improve to 6-12 overall and 4-5 in league play. The match was the season finale for both teams.
Wheaton honored its three seniors prior to the match, paying homage to Kate Anzidei (Wethersfield, Conn.), Delia Knox (Cumberland, Maine) and Lydia Gaudreau (Gorham, Maine) in the final game of their respective careers.
Following a first quarter that saw Smith own a 4-3 shooting edge, the Pioneers outshot Wheaton, 21-6, in the final three quarters of play. Smith also owned a 7-6 edge in penalty corners.
Junior forward Callahan Day (Shady Side, Md.), senior forward Laura Dreher (Durham, N.H.), senior forward Elena Korinek (Stonington, Conn.) and senior forward Caroline McShea (Pittsburgh, Pa.) each found the back of the cage for the Pioneers.
Smith tallied the first two goals of the afternoon in a span of 3:27 in the first four minutes of the second period.
Day opened the scoring just one minute into the second quarter when the Lyon keeper came off her line and Day was able to slip behind her with the ball and walk in with her seventh goal of the season. Day threatened to score her second goal in a span of three minutes with a pair of shots in the goalmouth, but Wheaton sophomore goalie Grace Ferguson (Williston, Vt.) denied both tries, before the loose ball ended up away from the cage. Dreher collected the ball and lifted a shot into the upper right corner of the cage for her ninth marker of the year and a 2-0 Pioneer lead with 10:33 to go in the quarter.
Smith added an insurance goal with just 73 seconds left in the third period to take a 3-0 margin. Dreher fired a shot that was stopped by Ferguson, but Korinek was there for the rebound and her second tally of the season.
McShea took a feed from junior midfielder Annika Peterson (Forest Hill, Md.) in the crease, before potting her fourth goal of the year with 8:38 showing on the fourth quarter clock to give the visitors a four-goal advantage.
The Lyons looked to crack the scoring column first, midway through the opening quarter of play. Junior forward Riley Levrault (Lakeville, Mass.) fired a pair of shots coming on two different penalty corners in a span of 14 seconds, but both were turned away. Wheaton was awarded a third corner and Gaudreau blasted a shot from just inside the arc, that sophomore midfielder Ally Slicer (Waterford, Maine) redirected on a deflection, but the shot went wide left of the cage.
The Lyons threatened to cut the deficit in half within the first two minutes of the third quarter off another penalty corner. Sophomore midfielder Maria Worden (Burlington, Vt.) lifted a shot from within 10 yards of the cage, but the ball was batted down by the Smith keeper.
Knox paced the Wheaton offense with three shots for the day.
First year keeper Emma Newman (Clarks Summit) stopped all five shots she faced to earn her fourth shutout of the season. Ferguson recorded 12 saves for the Lyons.
