NORTON, Mass. – Senior midfielder Avonlea LeBeau (North Branford, Conn.) and junior attacker Lara Finnie (Westfield, Mass.) each netted five goals to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team to a 15-4 victory over visiting Clark University (Mass.) this afternoon in the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference opener on Nordin Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons improve to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in league play, while the Cougars fall to 3-3 and 0-1.
Wheaton's defense held Clark to just 17 shots in the match, including just two in the third quarter and limited the visitors to a lone goal in the final 39:57 of the game, including no scores in the final 17:17 of the contest. The offense fired 32 attempts for the Lyons.
LeBeau came up with six draw controls and four ground ground balls to go with a caused turnover for Wheaton, while Finnie added an assist and a ground ball off the bench. Senior midfielder Logan Truluck (Bath, Maine) tallied a career-high five points, including a pair of goals in addition to a ground ball. Junior defender Talia Banglmaier (Kennebunk, Maine) registered a career and game-high four caused turnovers to go with a pair of ground balls and senior defender Kendall Conwell (Weston, Fla.) recorded four ground balls and a caused turnover. Sophomore goalie Katie Geis (Duxbury, Mass.) stopped five shots in net for the Lyons.
Graduate student midfielder Elizabeth Liakos (Arlington, Mass.) led the Clark offense with a pair of goals, while junior attacker Saorla Scully (Hampton Bays, N.Y.) and junior midfielder Aubrey Conners (Devon, Pa.) each netted a goal. Conners also won a pair of draw controls and picked up a ground ball. Senior defender Mary Greene (Leeds, Mass.) paced the defensive effort with four ground balls and three caused turnovers to go with a draw control. Junior goalie Annie Battle (Bozeman, Mont.) made eight saves for the Cougars.
Liakos netted an unassisted goal with 9:57 to play in the second quarter to pull the Cougars within 4-3, but Wheaton dominated the match from that point going forward, outscoring Clark, 11-1 to close out the game.
Truluck and LeBeau tallied the final two goals of the first half, before the Lyons scored five unanswered goals, including three from Finnie to cap the scoring spree and give Wheaton an 11-3 advantage with 4:42 to play in the third quarter.
Scully found the back of the net for the Cougars to cut the deficit to 11-4 with just 2:17 remaining in the quarter. Finnie scored again with 49 ticks left in the third period and the Lyons scored three times in the fourth quarter, including a pair of markers from LeBeau, to finish the game.
Conners opened the scoring with the game's first goal coming at the 8:56 mark of the opening quarter to give Clark a 1-0 edge. LeBeau and Finnie countered to put the Lyons on the board and give them a 2-1 lead. Senior defender Angela Borelli (West Haven, Conn.) found Liakos for the game-tying goal for the Cougars with 4:19 showing on the first quarter clock to make it 2-2.
Junior midfielders Kilee Sherry (Gorham, Maine) and Gabs Smart (Oakland, Maine) each scored for Wheaton to give the home team a two-goal margin with 10:52 to play in the second quarter.
Wheaton returns to action on Saturday, March 23 when it travels to Westfield, Mass. to take on Westfield State University at 12:00 p.m., while Clark hosts Curry College on March 20 at 7:00 p.m.
