HILTON HEAD, S.C. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team was defeated by Muhlenberg College, 19-5, this afternoon in Hilton Head, S.C.
The Lyons dip to 3-2 on the season, while the Mules improve to a perfect 5-0.
Muhlenberg dominated possession with a 37-18 shooting advantage and was successful on 16 of 19 clear attempts, while holding Wheaton to 12 of 17. The Mules also held an 18-11 margin in ground balls.Muhlenberg made the most of their free position opportunities, converting seven of nine unfettered attempts.
Sophomore Jessica Chamberlin (Bow, N.H.) led the Lyons' offense with two goals and an assist to go with a pair of ground balls and a draw control, while senior midfielder Avonlea LeBeau (North Branford, Conn.) and junior attacker Lara Finnie (Westfield, Mass.) each registered a goal and an assist. LeBeau added nine draw controls and a caused turnover and Finnie recorded a draw control and a caused turnover. Sophomore Riley Kilbourn (Madison, Conn.) chipped in with a goal. Senior Abigail Mountain (Niantic, Conn.) was active on the defensive end with three caused turnovers. Sophomore goalie Katie Geis (Duxbury, Mass.) stopped 12 shots for Wheaton.
Sophomore attacker Ava Milia (Easton, Pa.) and senior attacker Nicole Steiner (Plantation, Fla.) each netted three goals to pace the Mules. Junior midfielder Jillian Kubikowski (Ridgewood, N.J.) tallied four points, including a pair of goals and added two ground balls and a caused turnover. First year defender Rylee Hulack (Allendale, N.J.) also scored twice for Muhlenberg. Sophomore defender Abba Diglio (Whippany, N.J.) picked up four ground balls and won six draw controls. Junior goalie Ellison Ervin (Emmaus, Pa.) earned the win with nine saves.
The Mules opened the game by scoring five of the first six goals from five different players. Hulack tallied the last goal of the opening quarter to give Muhlenberg a 5-1 lead with 12 ticks left in the period. Chamberlin netted the lone goal for the Lyons at the 8:33 mark of the quarter.
LeBeau scored the first marker of the second quarter with 8:57 left to cut the deficit to 5-2 for Wheaton. The Mules responded with nine unanswered goals, including two from Milia. Sophomore attacker Ellie Armbruster's (Schwenksville, Pa.) goal with 9:55 showing in the third quarter gave Muhlenberg a 14-2 advantage.
Kilbourn snapped the scoring string for the Mules and ended a scoring drought of 16-plus minutes for the Lyons to make it 14-3 with 7:55 to play in the third quarter. First year middie Emma Youngling (Finksburg, Md.) and junior defender Melissa Pierpoint (Ramsey, N.J.) netted the final two goals of the quarter to increase the Muhlenberg cushion to 16-3.
Finnie converted a free position goal with just 1:23 gone in the fourth quarter to pull Wheaton within 16-4.The Mules scored the next three goals, including a marker from sophomore attacker Danielle Sautner (Syosset, N.Y.) with just 31 seconds to play in the game to give them a 19-4 lead. Chamberlin scored the final goal of the day on a feed from LeBeau as time expired to set the final at 19-5.
The Lyons return to action tomorrow in Hilton Head when they take on Lycoming College at 10:00 a.m., while Muhlenberg plays Kean University on March 14 at 12:00 p.m.
