WORCESTER, Mass. – First year midfielder Gia Marotta (Lynnfield, Mass.) tallied the lone goal to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) field hockey team over host Clark University (Mass), 1-0, this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Granger Field in Worcester, Mass.
The Lyons win their third straight and fourth of their last five to improve to 7-5 overall and 3-2 in NEWMAC play. Wheaton has posted three straight shutouts to tie the school record it matched from September 2-9 and has recorded three straight blank sheets twice in the same season for the first time in school history. The Cougars fall to 8-5 and 0-5.
Clark owned a 15-10 shot advantage, but the Lyons held a 7-4 margin in shots on frame. Wheaton also led with a 5-3 difference in penalty corners.
The Lyons tallied the only goal of the afternoon just 4:51 into the match. It took all of 10 seconds for Wheaton to go the length of the field from the re-start with unfettered ball movement that ended with sophomore forward Kayla Wilonski (Wallingford, Conn.) sending a feed from the 23-meter marker to Marotta. The rookie, who had just come onto the field as a substitution, streaked into the arc to receive Wilonski's cross for a sweeping shot into the right corner of the cage for her first collegiate marker and a 1-0 Lyon lead with 10:09 left in the quarter.
The Cougars' best opportunity to get on the board came early in the third quarter when first year midfielder Olivia Bass (Reading, Mass.) carried the ball into the goalmouth, before firing a shot that was kicked away by Wheaton junior keeper Grace Ferguson (Williston, Vt.) just 2:51 into the period.
The Lyons threatened to add to their margin with four shots and two penalty corners in a span of 3:26 in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. Wilonski lifted a shot that deflected off the chest of Clark junior keeper Rachel Reiter (Millburn, N.J.). Wheaton sent the ball back out to the top of the circle right away, before junior Ally Slicer (Waterford, Maine) ripped a shot that was turned away by Reiter.
Ferguson finished with four saves for the Lyons to record her fifth shutout of the season to rank as the fifth-most in a campaign in program history, while her nine career blank sheets place her fifth all-time at Wheaton. Senior forward Riley Levrault (Lakeville, Mass.) paced the Lyon offense with three shots. Reiter registered six stops for the Cougars and senior forward Morgan Brown (Homer, N.Y.) attempted five shots.
Wheaton returns to action tomorrow when it travels to Biddeford, Maine to take on University of New England at 1:00 p.m., while Clark hosts Keene State College October 15 at 6:00 p.m.
