CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The sixth-seeded Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team was defeated number three seed and No. 20 nationally-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 23-5, this afternoon in the opening round of the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Championship Tournament at Jack Barry Field.
The Lyons close out their season with an 8-10 record, while the Engineers, who are ranked in the most recent Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association Poll, win their third in a row and four of their last five to improve to 15-3 on the season.
MIT advances to take on second-seeded Springfield College, a 14-3 winner over Salve Regina University, in the NEWMAC Semifinals on May 1 at 6:00 p.m. in Springfield, Mass.
Wheaton and the Engineers were tied at 2-2 after seven minutes of play, before MIT netted 11 unanswered goals and held the Lyons scoreless over the next 20:50 of play. Wheaton scored one goal each in the final three quarters of play.
The Engineers owned a 41-17 shot advantage, including 17-4 in the second half and committed just eight turnovers, compared to 15 for the visitors. MIT held a 17-13 margin on the draw as well.
Junior midfielder Gabs Smart (Oakland, Maine) tallied two points on a goal and an assist to lead the Lyons and added three draw controls, while senior midfielder Avonlea LeBeau (North Branford, Conn.) tallied her team-leading 50th goal of the season to give her exactly 50 in back-to-back seasons. She also added five draw controls and a ground ball. She finishes her career as Wheaton's all-time leader with 231 draw controls, while shattering the single-season mark with 141. LeBeau closes out her tenure standing sixth on the career goals list with 147 and ninth with 171 points. Senior midfielder Logan Truluck (Bath, Maine) and senior attacker Abigail Mountain (Niantic, Conn.) each tallied a goal in their final respective collegiate game and junior attacker Lara Finnie (Westfield, Mass.) added a marker. Senior defender Ailise Cannon (Kensington, N.H.) finished her career by picking up a game-high three ground balls to go with a pair of caused turnovers. Sophomore starting keeper Katie Geis (Duxbury, Mass.) stopped five of 17 shots in 29:35 for the Lyons, while first year goalie Jenna Langan (Lincoln, R.I.) turned away four of 11 shots in 24:37 of play. First year Makenna Gilman (Middletown, R.I.) surrendered four goals in 5:48 of action.
Senior attacker Ellie Rabenold (Cincinnati, Ohio) led the Engineers with a game-high nine points on five goals and four assists in addition to a pair of ground balls, a draw control and a caused turnover. Sophomore attacker Ashley Thomas (Summit, N.J.) netted four goals and added a pair of assists, while junior attacker Julianne Flusche (Ridgewood, N.J.) scored three times and assisted on three other goals to go with seven draw controls. Sophomore midfielder Monica Petulla (Natick, Mass.) also contributed with four goals on six shots and added two ground balls and a caused turnover. Sophomore starting keeper Molly Dulde (Delafield, Wis.) earned the win after stopping five of eight shots in the first half, before yielding to first year goalie Pauline Vien (Brookline, Mass.), who allowed a goal in the third quarter and first year Christina Fradella (Massapequa, N.Y.), who denied one of two shots.
Petulla scored just 58 seconds into the game and Rabenold followed 39 seconds later to give the home team a 2-0 margin. Mountain converted a feed from sophomore attacker Riley Kilbourn (Madison, Conn.) at the 12:03 mark and Truluck found the back of the net with 8:09 to go in the opening quarter to pull Wheaton even at 2-2.
MIT's defense limited the Lyons to just seven shots over the next 20-plus minutes, while first year midfielder Jillian Butler (Brecksville, Ohio) (3) and sophomore attacker Nina Petulla (Natick, Mass.) (2) combined for five of the final six goals of the first quarter to give the Engineers an 8-2 lead after one period of play.
MIT tallied the first five goals of the second quarter, including two from Flusche, to increase its advantage to 13-2 with 5:51 remaining in the half.
Finnie ended the Lyons' scoring drought at 2:19 of the second quarter with her 40th goal of the season to make it 13-3. Rabenold netted the final goal of the quarter with just 13 ticks left on the clock and netted the first two markers of the third period to spark a five-goal run, capped by a pair of Thomas goals to give the Engineers an 18-3 cushion with 7:24 showing on the third quarter clock.
Smart scored Wheaton's only goal of the third quarter to cut the margin to 18-4 with 3:59 to go in the period.
MIT netted the final marker of the quarter and the first four of the final period, including two from Monica Petulla, to take a 23-4 advantage with 3:16 to play in the game. Smart fed LeBeau for the game's final score and her 50th of the year with 1:58 remaining in the contest.
