CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team capped its regular season with an 18-6 defeat at No. 20 Massachusetts Institute of Technology this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference action at Jack Barry Field in Cambridge, Mass.
The Lyons dip to 8-9 overall and 5-5 in league play, while the Engineers improve to 14-3 and 8-2. Wheaton finishes the slate as the sixth seed in the NEWMAC Championship Tournament and will return to Cambridge to take on third-seeded MIT on Saturday, April 27.
MIT held Wheaton to single goals in each of the first three periods, before the Lyons outscored the Engineers, 3-1, in the fourth quarter.
MIT held a 27-17 shot advantage for the match and the teams were even on the draw with 14 wins apiece.
Senior midfielder Avonlea LeBeau (North Branford, Conn.) netted a pair of goals and added five draw controls for Wheaton. She now has 146 career goals to stand sixth by herself on the school's career goals list, while her two points leave her alone at ninth all-time with 170 points. Junior attacker Lara Finnie (Westfield, Mass.) netted two goals and picked up a ground ball, while sophomore attacker Jessica Chamberlin (Bow, N.H.) scored a goal, won a career-high seven draws and picked up a ground ball. Sophomore defender Katie Hallee (Norway, Maine) registered two ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers. Sophomore starting keeper Katie Geis (Duxbury, Mass.) turned away four of 16 shots in 37:18 of action, while first year Jenna Langan (Lincoln, R.I.) stopped one of three shots in 15:45 and first year Makenna Gilman (Middletown, R.I.) allowed four goals in 6:57 of play.
Senior attacker Ellie Rabenold (Cincinnati, Ohio) led all scorers for the Engineers with six markers on seven shots and added seven draw controls. Sophomore attacker Ashley Thomas (Summit, N.J.) racked up nine points with three goals and six assists and sophomore midfielder Monica Petulla (Natick Mass.) scored three times in addition to picking up two ground balls and causing a pair of turnovers. Senior defender Katie Bell (Radnor, Pa.) recorded three ground balls and a trio of caused turnovers. Sophomore goalie Molly Dulde (Delafield, Wis.) denied one of three shots in the first two quarters of play, before yielding to first year keeper Pauline Vien (Brookline, Mass.), who turned back one of two shots in the third quarter. First year Ashton Flather (Ipswich, Mass.) turned away four of seven shots in the final period of play.
Rabenold scored the first goal of the game for MIT at the 12:08 mark of the opening quarter, before senior midfielder Logan Truluck (Bath, Maine) netted the equalizer for the Lyons to pull even at 1-1 with 8:51 left in the quarter.
The Engineers broke the game open, closing out the quarter with six unanswered goals, followed by six straight markers to open the second quarter to take a 13-1 advantage with 5:04 to play in the opening half. Rabenold added two more goals in the first quarter and Thomas tallied the final score of the period with 45 ticks left to give the home team a 7-1 cushion. Petulla netted a pair of goals early in the second quarter and Rabenold ended MIT's run with three straight goals to give the Engineers a 12-goal advantage. LeBeau scored the only goal of the period for Wheaton with 1:25 showing on the second quarter clock to make it 13-2 heading into the intermission.
MIT scored the first three goals of the third quarter, including a marker from first year midfielder Jillian Butler (Brecksville, Ohio) with 9:34 remaining in the quarter to increase the home team's lead to 16-2.
Finnie found the back of the net for the Lyons at the 3:16 mark of the period, before junior attacker Julianne Flusche (Ridgewood, N.J.) countered with the final score of the period to give the Engineers a 17-3 margin with 48 ticks left in the third quarter.
Thomas tallied a marker to begin the fourth quarter and give MIT an 18-3 advantage with 12:08 to go in the game. It was the final goal of the night for the home team. Wheaton held its host scoreless for the final 12-plus minutes, while scoring three times. LeBeau netted her team-high 49th goal of the season at 8:28 of the quarter, before Chamberlin followed just 2:24 later with a marker. Finnie scored with 1:54 to play in the contest to give her 39 goals, despite the Lyons being down a player due to penalty.
