DORCHESTER, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's lacrosse team was defeated by host University of Massachusetts Boston, 22-16, this afternoon at James Cotter Field in Dorchester, Mass.

The Lyons dip to 3-2 on the season, while the Beacons remain perfect at 4-0.

UMass Boston held a 54-44 shooting advantage and converted 16 of 18 clear attempts. The Beacons doubled up their guests with a 27-14 faceoff margin and owned a 52-30 advantage in ground balls.

Sophomore attackman Emmett Edwards (Sunderland, Vt.) led Wheaton with six points, including four goals and added a ground ball, while junior midfielder Charlie Racine (Oradell, N.J.) tallied five points on three goals and a pair of assists in addition to six ground balls and two caused turnovers. Junior midfielder Mike McLaughlin (Stoughton, Mass.) collected four points, including two goals and added three ground balls and a caused turnover. Senior defender Jacob Wharton (Worcester, Mass.) led the Lyon defense with four ground balls and two caused turnovers. Junior goalie Connor Almstrom (Cumberland, R.I.) turned away 12 of 26 shots in 45:16 of play, while junior keeper John Drew (North Andover, Mass.) stopped one of nine shots in 14:44 of play.

Graduate student midfielder Sean Daly (Kingston, Mass.) led UMass Boston with a game-high eight points on six goals and two assists in addition to a ground ball and a caused turnover. Graduated student middie Zach Mann (South Hadley, Mass.) and senior attackman Greg Wolff (Kingston, Mass.) each netted three goals for the home team with Mann adding three ground balls and a caused turnover. Senior face-off specialist Matt Lucozzi (Billerica, Mass.) was dominant on the faceoff, winning 26 of 33 opportunities and picking up 14 ground balls, while graduate student defender Patrick Carey (North Andover, Mass.) came up with seven ground balls and three caused turnovers. First year goalie James Boldy (Hopedale, Mass.) picked up the win, deflecting eight of 18 shots in 53:58 of play. Sophomore keeper Avery Sears (Randolph, Vt.) and sophomore goalie Broden Youngclaus (Middleboro, Mass.) each allowed three goals and combined for the final 6:02 of play.

The Beacons opened the match with four unanswered goals, including two from Mann, to give the home team the four-goal lead through the first 13 minutes of play. Junior midfielder Jack Board (Westborough, Mass.) put Wheaton on the board with 71 seconds left in the opening period to cut the deficit to 4-1 before the end of the quarter.

Racine scored the first marker of the second quarter just 30 seconds into the new period on a man-up opportunity to cut the deficit to 4-2 for the Lyons. It was as close as they would get for the remainder of the contest.

Daly netted a pair of goals during a three-goal spree for UMass Boston to take a 7-2 lead with 7:17 left in the quarter. Wheaton scored three of the next four markers with Racine, first year attackman Mitch Tepedino (Southbury, Conn.) and Edwards all scoring for the visitors to make it 8-5 with just six ticks left on the first half clock.

The Beacons answered with four of the first five goals of the third quarter, including a pair from Daly, to give UMass Boston a 12-6 lead with 8:24 showing in the quarter.

Board scored back-to-back goals in a span of 3:30 to cut the margin to 12-8 for Wheaton, before the Beacons ended the quarter with a pair of goals and began the fourth quarter with three unanswered goals to take a 17-8 cushion with 13:15 remaining in the contest.

The opening scoring surge by the home team to start the final period were just three of 16 combined goals in the quarter by both teams. Edwards and McLaughlin each scored for the Lyons during a three-plus minute stretch that saw UMass Boston score four times, including a marker from senior midfielder Justin McCullough (Waltham, Mass.) to give the Beacons their largest lead at 21-10 with 6:54 to play in the match. 

Wheaton closed out the contest with six of the final seven goals, including two from Edwards.

The Lyons return to action on Saturday, March 9 when they travel to Roger Williams University at 1:00 p.m., while UMass Boston takes on Vassar College on March 10 in Southwestern, Texas.