NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — Senior midfielder Avonlea LeBeau (North Branford, Conn.) scored the game-winning goal 100 seconds into overtime to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team to a 12-11 comeback victory over host Smith College this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference action at the Smith Turf Field in Northampton, Mass.
The Lyons improve to 8-6 overall and 5-2 in league play, while the Pioneers fall to 7-8 and 4-4.
After trailing 11-10 during the final minute of the fourth quarter, Wheaton came back to close out the game on a 2-0 run to mount the comeback. LeBeau scored the final two markers of the game, which included the game-tying goal with 17 seconds remaining in the fourth period to force overtime at 11-11. In the extra session, LeBeau fired in the game-winning goal with 4:20 in overtime to lead the Lyons to a 12-11 overtime victory.
Despite trailing 18-11 in the ground ball margin, Wheaton held advantages in total shots (30-23) and draw controls (15-11). The Lyons went 21-for-23 on clears and forced Smith to 21-for-27 on clears. Wheaton went 4-for-6 on free-position goals (tied for the second most free-position goals in a single game this season), while the Pioneers went a perfect 1-for-1 on free-position goals. The Lyons committed 18 turnovers and forced their hosts into 17 turnovers.
LeBeau scored a game-high four goals and recorded one ground ball, one caused turnover and won a match-high five draw controls for Wheaton. Sophomore midfielder Sara Spielman (Norwalk, Conn.) scored a career-high three goals (all free-position goals) and added a ground ball. Sophomore attacker Riley Kilbourn (Madison, Conn.) tallied two goals and junior attacker Lara Finnie (Westfield, Mass.) added one goal and one assist. First year goalie Jenna Langan (Lincoln R.I.) recorded the victory in goal, stopping four shots, while playing the entire 61:40 in goal.
Senior midfielder Jennie Arancio (Smithtown, N.Y.) tallied two goals, one assist, a game-high five ground balls, four caused turnovers, and won one draw control for Smith. Senior attacker Gia Arancio (Smithtown, N.Y.) also recorded two goals, one assist, one ground ball, and a caused turnover. First year attacker Kyra Hawk (San Jose, Calif.) scored two goals, scooped up three ground balls, and won three draw controls. Sophomore midfielder Caroline Sanders (Orange County, Calif.) added two goals to go along with a ground ball and won three draw controls. Senior defender Isabelle Elder (Santa Rosa, Calif.) tied a career-high five draw controls. Sophomore goalie Shannon Houtenville (East Windsor, N.J.) stopped seven shots in 46:40 of game time, while sophomore goalkeeper Brooke Testa (Pittstown, N.J.) spent 15 minutes in goal and recorded five saves.
In a high-scoring first quarter, which saw seven combined goals, the Pioneers jumped out to a fast start and scored the first five of seven goals in the opening stanza. Smith got on the board first when junior attacker Sadie Tschider (Piedmont, Calif.) scored in the first 2:04 of the contest to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. Spielman added Wheaton's first goal just over three minutes later to tie the score at 1-1 with 9:39 in the first quarter. The Pioneers erupted for a 4-0 scoring run (Smith's largest scoring run of the day) during a 5:12 span to give the hosts their largest lead of the game at 5-1. Sophomore attacker Jessica Chamberlin (Bow, N.H.) stopped Smith's 4-0 scoring run to score the final goal of the period to make the score 5-2 with 1:12 remaining in the first period.
After trailing 5-2 through one quarter, Wheaton flipped the switch in the second quarter and out-shot Smith 9-5 (most shot attempts in a single quarter of the game by Wheaton). Both offenses were held scoreless during the first nine minutes of the second period, but that changed when Spielman netted her second goal of the game to make the score 5-3 with 5:51 in the second quarter. LeBeau then responded to tally her first of four goals in the match to cut the deficit to one, 5-4, with 3:19 remaining in the period. Both teams traded goals in the final 2:42 of the second quarter, as Smith led 6-5 at halftime.
The Pioneers scored first in the third quarter when Hawk found the back of the net to give Smith a 7-5 lead with 13:06 on the timer. After trailing by a two-goal deficit for the fourth time in the match, Wheaton rallied with a 3-0 run (one goal each by Kilbourn, LeBeau, and Spielman) during the next 10 minutes to take their first lead of the afternoon at 8-7 with 3:06 left in the third quarter.
After trading goals to start the fourth period, the Pioneers used a 3-0 scoring run to take the lead back at 11-9 with 4:25 remaining in the fourth quarter. The two-goal advantage by Smith marked the Pioneers fifth two-goal lead of the game. The Lyons quickly responded back as senior attacker Abigail Mountain (Niantic, Conn.) cut the Wheaton deficit to one, 11-10, when she found the back of the net with 1:37 remaining in the game. With one minute left to play, the Lyons were able to force a Smith turnover, which ultimately led to LeBeau to capitalize off the hosts turnover, as she scored the game-tying goal with 17 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to make the score 11-11 at the end of regulation.
In the extra session, Smith had the first opportunity when Sanders won the opening draw control for the Pioneers. However, the Lyons defense came up clutch once again 45 seconds into overtime, as junior midfielder Kilee Sherry (Gorham, Maine) caused a turnover and recovered the ground ball to give Wheaton their first possession in overtime. LeBeau once again was able to capitalize off the Pioneers turnover, when she found the back of the net to score the game-winning goal to lead Wheaton to a 12-11 comeback win.
The Lyons return to action on Wednesday, April 17 when they host NEWMAC rival No. 20 Babson College at 7:00 p.m. at Nordin Field, while the Pioneers host NEWMAC foe Emerson College at the same time.
