NORTON, Mass. – Sophomore midfielder Kayla Wilonski (Wallingford, Conn.) netted a pair of goals to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) field hockey team over visiting Johnson & Wales University (R.I.), 2-0, this evening at Nordin Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons improve to 6-5 on the season, while the Wildcats slip to 6-5.
Wheaton made the most of its opportunities with Johnson & Wales owning a 17-6 shot advantage, including 6-1 in the second half. The Wildcats held a 9-4 advantage in penalty corners as well.
Wilonski tallied both of the Lyons' goals in the first 17 minutes of action. Wheaton put pressure on its guests early in the match with all four of their penalty corners coming within the first two minutes of the match. JWU successfully defended the fourth straight corner, but senior forward Riley Levrault (Lakeville, Mass.) was able to bring the ball inside the arc, before sending a feed to Wilonski in the goal mouth, where she fired a shot into the far left corner to put the Lyons on the board just 3:12 into the contest.
The Wildcats threatened to pull even on their first penalty corner late in the opening quarter, but junior midfielder Hannah Geil (Smithfield, R.I.) was denied by the post. Johnson & Wales looked to steal a goal just prior to the final horn of the first quarter when senior forward Zofia Bangs (Stoughton, Mass.) was stopped by Wheaton junior keeper Grace Ferguson (Williston, Vt.). First year forward Faith Miguel (Stantonville, Tenn.) was there for the rebound shot, only to be turned back by senior defender Abby Miller (Andover, Mass.) to keep the Lyons' shutout intact with her second defensive save in the waning seconds of the period.
Wheaton added to its lead with its second goal coming just 110 seconds into the second quarter. First year midfielder Gia Marotta (Lynnfield, Mass.) sent a cross into the goalmouth, where Wilonski received it with her back to the cage, before whirling around to beat the JWU keeper, who had come off her line to meet the ball. The marker was Wilonski's team-leading sixth of the season to give the home team a 2-0 margin.
Ferguson finished the night with six saves for the Lyons to record her fourth shutout of the season and eighth of her career, while junior Sophia Brea (Windham, N.H.) came up with two stops for the Wildcats.
Wheaton returns to the turf on Saturday, October 11 when it travels to Worcester, Mass. to take on New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference foe Clark University at 2:00 p.m., while Johnson & Wales hosts University of Hartford on the same day at 1:00 p.m.
