BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Senior midfielder Avonlea LeBeau (North Branford, Conn.) and junior attacker Lara Finnie (Westfield, Mass.) each netted a pair of goals to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team over host Bridgewater State University in the season opener, 10-6, this afternoon at Mazzaferro Field in Bridgewater, Mass. 

The Lyons improve to 1-0 on the season, while the Bears fall to 0-1. 

Wheaton saw eight different players score in the match and owned a 26-18 shot advantage, while winning 13 of 20 draw controls. The Lyons successfully converted 17 of 21 (81%) clear attempts while the Bears went 19-for-26 (73%) on the clear.

Finnie added an assist to her afternoon, while LeBeau registered a game-high six draw controls to go with three ground balls and a trio of caused turnovers for the Lyons. Senior defender Kendall Conwell (Weston, Fla.) was very active on the defensive end with a career-high six caused turnovers and four ground balls in addition to four draw controls, while senior defender Ailise Cannon (Kensington, N.H.) came up with four ground balls and caused three miscues. Sophomore goalie Katie Geis (Duxbury, Mass.) recorded six saves in the victory.

Junior midfielder Erin McIntyre (Tewksbury, Mass.) led all scorers with three goals for Bridgewater State and added three ground balls, three draw controls and a caused turnover. Senior attacker Savannah Herrington (Kinnelon, N.J.) chipped in with a pair of goals, two ground balls and a caused turnover, while first year attacker Abigail Lambert (Harrisville, R.I.) netted her first collegiate goal and picked up a ground ball. Senior defender Bridget Lane (Newburyport, Mass.) led the BSU defense with four ground balls and four caused turnovers. Senior keeper Laura Giovaniello (Walpole, Mass.) turned away nine shots for the Bears.

McIntyre scored an advantage marker on a feed from senior midfielder Katherine Wrona (Belchertown, Mass.) to pull within 4-3 with 11:06 to play in the second quarter. Wheaton tallied the final two goals of the half with scores from senior midfielder Logan Truluck (Bath, Maine) at 7:23 and junior midfielder Kilee Sherry (Gorham, Maine), who scored on a dish from first year first year attacker Mieke Buterbaugh (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) to notch her first collegiate point with 93 seconds left in the first stanza to take a 6-3 halftime margin.

The Lyons continued their momentum into the third quarter as the teams traded a pair of goals to open the new quarter. Finnie got on the board at 8:31 with an advantage goal, before McIntyre countered for Bridgewater State. Wheaton junior midfielder Sophie Gromala (Killingworth, Conn.) traded goals with Lambert for BSU to make it 8-5 in the Lyons' favor with just 36 ticks left on the third quarter clock. 

Finnie and LeBeau each scored advantage goals to begin the fourth quarter to close the book on Wheaton's scoring effort and give it a 10-5 lead with 11:08 remaining in the contest. McIntyre tallied her third goal of the afternoon for the Bears on a pass from junior midfielder Melanie McClay (Plymouth, Mass.) with 1:52 left in the game to finish the day's scoring.

LeBeau and Herrington traded goals within the first five minutes of play to place the squads in a 1-1 tie. The Lyons ripped off three straight markers spanning the end of the first quarter and the start of the second behind sophomore midfielder Sara Spielman (Norwalk, Conn.), first year attacker Georgia Qua (Suffield, Conn.) and sophomore defender Kayleigh York (Scarborough, Maine) to give them an early 4-1 lead with 14:21 to go in the second quarter. The goals for York and Qua were the first of their careers. Bridgewater State got two goals back with a tally from Herrington on a free-position opportunity and McIntyre's goal to cut the deficit to one.

Wheaton returns to action on Saturday, February 24 when it hosts Worcester State in the team's home opener at Nordin Field at 12:00 p.m., while the Bears head to New London, Conn. to take on United States Coast Guard Academy on February 23 at 5:00 p.m.