NORTON, Mass. -- Five different players scored to fuel a 5-1 victory for the Wheaton College (Mass.) men's soccer team over visiting Saint Joseph's College (Maine) this afternoon on Keefe Field in Norton, Mass. on the Wheaton campus.

The Lyons improve to 2-0 on the season for their best start after two matches since 2014 when they won their first five contests. Wheaton's goal total marks the most in a home game since the Lyons defeated Emerson College, 6-1, on October 21, 2017. 

The Monks fall to 0-1-1.

The game was called final with 2:26 left to play following a lightning strike.

Wheaton dominated play, out-shooting Saint Joseph's 24-3, while owning a 9-2 margin on corner kicks.

The Lyons scored within the first 10 minutes of the game and added one more score before the intermission. Wheaton added three insurance goals in the second stanza, while the Monks' only marker came on a penalty kick.

First year forward Gael Vera (Westminster, Mass.) put the Lyons on the board in the 10th minute of play with his first collegiate goal. Junior midfielder Joey Everett (Danbury, Conn.) headed a cross down to the pitch, where Vera collected the ball a step inside the top of the box that settled just inside the far left corner for a 1-0 Wheaton edge.

The Lyons tacked on another goal with a tick over 10 minutes to play in the half for a 2-0 lead. Junior midfielder Baden McLaughlin (Yarmouth, Maine) served a free kick from just outside the box into the goalmouth, where it was blocked in front, but sophomore midfielder Caleb Cassetta-Waxman (Denver, Colo.) redirected the ball with a header into the right corner of the net for his first collegiate score.

Wheaton took advantage of a free kick from 23 yards out for its third marker of the day. Senior forward Alasdair Ferrier (Concord, N.H.) curled a shot from behind a Saint Joseph's wall that snuck just inside the far right post for his first tally of the season coming in the 53rd minute of the contest. 

The Monks broke up the Lyons' bid for a shutout in the 68th minute when senior midfielder Rion Dos Santos (São Paulo, Brazil) deposited a penalty kick into the right corner of the net to cut the deficit to 3-1.

McLaughlin created his own space after picking up a loose ball and was able to stop and fire a shot into the far left post for his first goal of the year in the 74th minute and provide the home team with a three-goal margin.

The Lyons manufactured their fifth goal of the afternoon when senior midfielder Max Strong (Littleton, Mass.) flicked the ball off his back foot from a crowd just outside the box, where first year forward Charlie Margiloff (Rye, N.Y.) was able to carry the ball into the box. The rookie sent a short cross to sophomore midfielder Declan Rhatigan (Holderness, N.H.), who ripped a shot that was deflected off a Monk defender, before finding the back of the net for his first collegiate goal with 8:30 left in regulation.

Junior keeper Michael O'Gara (Ardmore, Pa.) was untested in a scoreless first half, before yielding to Wheaton sophomore goalie Nick Phinney (Gorham, Maine), who stopped one of two shots in the second session. Senior netminder Liam Foley (Middleton, Mass.) turned away nine shots in 87:34 of play for Saint Joseph's.

The Lyons remain home to face Williams College on Tuesday, September 3 at 4:00 p.m. on Keefe Field, while the Monks host Bates College on September 4 at 6:00 p.m.