SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. — Junior attacker Lara Finnie (Westfield, Mass.) netted a hat trick to go with an assist, while the trio of Kilee Sherry (Gorham, Maine), Natalie Bilodeau (Scarborough, Maine), and Georgia Qua (Suffield, Conn.) each registered a career-high three goals to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team to a 21-11 win over host Mount Holyoke College this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at the Mount Holyoke Turf and Track Complex in South Hadley, Mass.
The Lyons improve to 6-4 overall and 3-0 in league play, while Mount Holyoke falls to 1-9 and 0-3.
Wheaton dominated possession by winning the draw control battle 25-11, and holding a commanding 40-26 shot margin, including 14-3 in the fourth quarter. The Lyons forced their hosts into 19 turnovers, while committing 15 turnovers itself. Mount Holyoke held a slight advantage in the ground ball margin 15-13, but Wheaton led the ground ball advantage 5-1 in the fourth quarter.
In a match-up between the Lyons, both teams were tied 4-4 through the first quarter. Wheaton then outscored Mount Holyoke 17-7 in the final three quarters, including a 5-2 goal advantage in the second period and a 7-2 advantage in the fourth quarter box score.
The depth of the visitors carried the Lyons throughout the match, as Wheaton had 11 different players score at least one goal. Junior midfielder Sophie Gromala (Killingworth, Conn.) recorded a season-high four points with one goal, three assists, and a caused turnover. Senior midfielder Avonlea Lebeau (North Branford, Conn.) scored two goals and added an assist with a pair of caused turnovers and a game-high 11 draw controls. Senior midfielder Logan Truluck (Bath, Maine) added two goals, while sophomore attacker Jessica Chamberlin (Bow, N.H.) recorded one goal, one assist, five draw controls, and two caused turnovers. Sophomore Kayleigh York (Scarborough, Maine) led the defense scooping up a career-high four ground balls in addition to a pair of caused turnovers. Sophomore starting goalie Katie Geis (Duxbury, Mass.) played 15 minutes in goal and stopped two shots, while first-year goalie Jenna Langan (Lincoln, R.I) recorded her first collegiate victory stopping a career-high eight shots in 30 minutes. First-year goalie Makenna Gilman (Middletown R.I.) tallied one save in 15 minutes in net.
Sophomore attacker Emi Bisson (Chester, Conn.) led Mount Holyoke with a game-high five points with three goals, two assists, seven draw controls, one ground ball and a caused turnover. Sophomore attacker Langley Berat (New York N.Y) scored a personal best three goals. Junior midfielder Ella Phillips (Sandwich, Mass.) tied a season-high three points with two goals and one assist. Sophomore defender Alex Twomey (Nutley, N.J) tallied career-highs with four ground balls, four caused turnovers, and won three draw controls. First-year goalkeeper Syd Baker (Needham, Mass.) recorded eight saves.
Truluck put Wheaton on top early with two quick goals within the first four-plus minutes to give the visiting Lyons a 2-0 lead. Mount Holyoke responded with a goal by Phillips, which was assisted by Emi Bisson with 8:40 to play in the first quarter. Wheaton then went on another two-goal scoring run to hold a 4-1 advantage after Sherry and Finnie found the back of the net. The hosts tallied three straight goals to close out the first quarter when Emi Bisson scored two goals in just over a minute-and-a-half span, and Hannah Bisson netted the game-tying goal at 4-4 with 12 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Mount Holyoke extended their scoring run to four straight goals when Phillips found the back of the net with 12:28 on the clock to give Mount Holyoke the lead 5-4. However, the lead by the hosts was short-lived, as Qua netted a goal which was assisted by LeBeau less than a minute later at the 11:40 mark of the second period to make the score 5-5. Wheaton then stretched their lead with three straight goals scored by Bilodeau, Gromala, and Sherry to give the visiting Lyons an 8-5 lead with 4:06 in the second quarter. Mount Holyoke and Wheaton traded goals to close out the second period, giving Wheaton the 9-6 halftime advantage.
Wheaton started the third quarter strong with four consecutive goals (including two by Finnie and one each by Chamberlin and LeBeau) in under a four-minute span to give the visiting Lyons a 13-6 lead. After both teams were held scoreless during the midway portion of the third period, Mount Holyoke then responded with a 3-1 run in the last six minutes with two goals by Berat and one goal by junior attacker Madison Millyan (Winchester, Mass.) to make the score 14-9 after three quarters of play.
Sopomore middie Sara Spielman (Norwalk, Conn.) found the back of the net on an assist by Gromala with 13:16 remaining in the fourth quarter to give Wheaton a 15-9 advantage. Mount Holyoke cut the deficit back to five goals when sophomore attacker Elle Mader (Cincinnati, Ohio), converted the lone free position goal of the game just under 25 seconds later. Wheaton then swung the momentum of the match in their favor, as the visiting Lyons had all the momentum in the last quarter, out-shooting the hosts 14-3 in total shots, 5-1 in ground balls, and committing a quarter-low two turnovers. After a 15-10 lead with 12:54 on the clock, Wheaton scored six straight markers within a 10 minute span to give Wheaton its largest lead at 21-10. Berat scored the final goal for Mount Holyoke with 1:40 left in the period.
Wheaton returns to action on Wednesday, April 3 when it travels to play NEWMAC foe Wellesley College at 7:00 p.m., while Mount Holyoke travels to Cambridge, Mass. to play Massachusetts Institute of Technology in a NEWMAC matchup on Saturday, April 6 at 4:00 p.m.
