WELLESLEY, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) field hockey team was defeated by host Wellesley College, 4-1, this afternoon in the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference season opener at Butler Stadium in Wellesley, Mass.
The Lyons dip to 5-2 overall and 0-1 in league play, while the Blue improve to 4-3 and 1-0.
Wellesley owned a 16-7 shot advantage, including 10-2 in the opening half, before Wheaton was edged 6-5 in the second stanza. The Blue also held an 8-3 margin in penalty corners.
Three of the game's five goals were all scored in a span of 4:02 in the opening quarter of play.
Wellesley tallied the first two markers of the day in a span of 2:06. The Blue got on the board with 9:35 left in the opening quarter when first year forward Claudia Summers (San Diego, Calif.) carried the ball down the right side, where she snaked along the endline before sneaking a shot over the stick of the Lyon keeper and just inside the right post. Summers struck again with 7:29 showing on the first quarter clock to give the home team a 2-0 margin. The rookie lifted a penalty stroke inside the left post for her fifth goal of the season.
Wheaton cut the deficit in half, less than two minutes later, when senior forward Delia Knox (Cumberland, Maine) came through with her third tally of the season. First year midfielder Kayla Wilonski (Wallingford, Conn.) led Knox with a short cross inside the arc on the right side, where the senior unleashed a shot past the drawn-out Wellesley keeper with 5:33 left in the first quarter to make it 2-1.
The Blue restored its two-goal lead (3-1) with just 2:06 remaining in the second quarter. First year forward Annika Schermerhorn (Clifton Park, N.Y.) picked up a loose ball in the arc and carried it to the front of the goalmouth, where she ripped a shot into the back of the cage for her first collegiate goal.
Wellesley added an insurance goal with the only goal of the second half, scoring with 83 seconds remaining in the third period to give the Blue a 4-1 margin. Madeline Hamstra (Houston, Texas) followed her classmate's lead with her first collegiate marker as well when she converted a penalty stroke off the left post that pinballed over the goal line.
Sophomore goalie Grace Ferguson (Williston, Vt.) made five saves for the Lyons, while first year keeper Maddie Miller (Ann Arbor, Mich.) turned back five shots for Wellesley.
Wheaton returns to action on Tuesday, September 24 when it heads to Fitchburg, Mass. to take on Fitchburg State University at 7:00 p.m., while the Blue travel to Biddeford, Maine to play University of New England on September 25 at 6:00 p.m.
