NORTON, Mass. – Sophomore attackman Emmett Edwards (Sunderland, Vt.) netted four goals to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) men's lacrosse team to an 11-5 victory over visiting Rivier University this evening at Nordin Field on the campus of Wheaton in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons have won five of their last six games and improve to 8-4 on the season, while the Raiders fall to 6-6.
Wheaton dominated possession and owned a healthy 54-21 shooting advantage, while the defense helped to force 25 Rivier turnovers compared to 16 for the home team. The Lyons were able to move the ball at will, converting 22 of 24 clear attempts. Wheaton also held a convincing 35-22 margin in ground balls.
The Lyons' defense did not allow more than two goals in any quarter in the match. All of Wheaton's scoring was done in the first three quarters.
Edwards' goal total gave him four or more markers in four contests this season for the Lyons. He added four ground balls and a caused turnover, while junior midfielders Mike McLaughlin (Stoughton, Mass.) and Jack Board (Westborough, Mass.) each tallied four points with a pair of goals and two assists each. McLaughlin added two ground balls. Junior attackman Charlie Goodrich (Fairfield, Conn.) contributed with a goal and three assists to go with a pair of ground balls. First year face-off specialist Chris Bodnaruk (Andover, Mass.) won 11 of 19 face-offs and picked up five ground balls, while first year defender Henry Stamatel (Plainville, Mass.) registered career highs with five ground balls and three caused turnovers. Junior goalie Connor Almstrom (Cumberland, R.I.) stopped seven of 12 shots in the opening 55:50 of play, before yielding to classmate John Drew (North Andover, Mass.), who stopped both shots he faced in the final 4:10 of play.
Junior midfielder Michael Zapatka (Newington, Conn.) led the Raiders with three goals and added a ground ball, while graduate student attackman Jeffrey Potter (North Bennington, Vt.) and junior midfielder Sawyer Hall (Windham, N.H.) each netted a goal. Sophomore faceoff specialist Owen McDuffie (Gray, Maine) collected a game-high seven ground balls and senior defender Adam Hailey (Salen, N.H.) caused a turnover and picked up a ground ball. Senior keeper Sawyer Gagnon (Gorham, Maine) made 13 saves for the visitors.
Wheaton opened the game with four unanswered goals, included an unassisted score from Board with 8:40 left in the opening quarter to give the Lyons a 4-0 lead.
Hall put Rivier on the board with his fourth goal of the year and the final marker of the quarter coming at the 4:22 mark to cut the deficit to 4-1.
Board and Edwards scored the first two goals of the second quarter to give Wheaton a 6-1 advantage with 5:45 left in the period. Zapataka found the back of the net with 67 seconds to go before halftime, but Edwards countered with a Lyon marker with just 26 ticks left in the second quarter to give the home team a 7-2 cushion heading into the break.
McLaughlin scored just 31 seconds into the second half to give Wheaton an 8-2 margin, before Zapatka netted his 27th and 28th goals of the season in a span of a minute to pull the Raiders within 8-4 with 7:56 showing in the third quarter.
Edwards ripped a shot that found twine for his team-high 31st goal of the year to spark a three-goal run that was capped by a Goodrich power play goal to give the home team an 11-4 lead with 4:19 remaining in the quarter.
Potter netted his fourth goal of the season for the lone marker of the fourth quarter to set the final at 11-5 for Rivier.
The Lyons return to action on Saturday, April 13 when they travel to Worcester, Mass. to take on New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference foe Clark University at 1:00 p.m., while the Raiders head to Henniker, N.H.) to play New England College at 4:00 p.m. in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action on the same day.
