HILTON HEAD, S.C. – Junior attacker Lara Finnie (Westfield, Mass.) netted five goals and added an assist to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team over Lycoming College, 23-10, this morning in Hilton Head, S.C.
The Lyons improve to 3-3 on the season, while the Warriors suffer their first loss to dip to 3-1.
Wheaton dominated possession in the match, winning 23 of 37 draw controls and owning a 48-20 shot advantage in addition to a 19-6 ground ball margin.
The Lyons scored at least four goals in every quarter, while holding Lycoming to just two markers in the second quarter and one in the fourth period.
Finnie added three ground balls and a caused turnover to her day for Wheaton, while senior midfielder Logan Truluck (Bath, Maine) and junior midfielder Gabs Smart (Oakland, Maine) each tallied four points on three goals and an assist. Truluck also added three ground balls and Smart contributed with three caused turnovers, a draw control and a pair of ground balls. Senior midfielder Avonlea LeBeau (North Branford, Conn.) connected on three of four shots for a trio of goals and added two ground balls and a career-high 14 draw controls. Sophomore midfielder Sara Spielman (Norwalk, Conn.) and classmate Riley Kilbourn (Madison, Conn.) each netted a pair of goals and added an assist. Sophomore goalie Katie Geis (Duxbury, Mass.) registered four saves for the Lyons.
Junior midfielder Katie Maguire (Garnerville, N.Y.) led all players with six goals for the Warriors in addition to seven draw controls, three caused turnovers and a pair of ground balls. Sophomore attacker Riley Block (Hopatcong, N.J.) netted three goals and added a ground ball and a draw control. First year middie Amina Abbas-Uddin (Beltsville, Md.) chipped in with a goal and a ground ball. Senior goalie Zoe Stauffer (Lititz, Pa.) stopped 16 shots for Lycoming.
The Warriors held a pair of one-goal leads in the match with Maguire scoring at the 11:29 mark of the opening quarter to give Lycoming 1-0 edge and again just 85 seconds after Truluck pulled Wheaton even with a score coming with 8:04 remaining in the opening quarter to give the Warriors a 2-1 edge. It was Lycoming's last advantage of the contest. The Lyons scored three straight goals in a span of 2:19, including a pair of markers from Finnie, to give them a 4-2 lead with 5:14 to play in the quarter. Block and Maguire scored back-to-back goals just 46 seconds apart to pull Lycoming even at 4-4 with 2:39 showing in the opening quarter.
Wheaton reeled off the first six goals of the second quarter, fueled by a pair from Finnie, including the Lyons' 10th goal of the day at the 5:21 mark of the period to give them a six-goal cushion. As they did to close out the first quarter, Block and Maguire combined to score the final two goals of the period, including an advantage goal coming with just 26 ticks before the end of the half to cut the deficit to 10-6 for the Warriors.
Four different Wheaton players tallied goals to open the second half, including a goal from Truluck at the 10:05 mark of the third quarter to give the Lyons a 14-6 cushion. Lycoming scored three of the next four goals, including two from Maguire, to pull the Warriors within 15-9 with 3:53 remaining in the quarter.
Wheaton put the match away, closing the game out with an 8-1 run, paced by a pair of goals each from Spielman and LeBeau, to give the Lyons a 13-goal victory.
Wheaton returns to action on Saturday, March 16 when it hosts New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference foe Clark University on Nordin Field at 1:00 p.m., while Lycoming heads to Wilkes-Barre, Pa. to play King's College (Pa.) on March 20 at 7:00 p.m.
