NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team was defeated by visiting University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 12-7, this afternoon at Nordin Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons slip to 0-2 on the season, while the Corsairs improve to 1-1.
UMass Dartmouth outscored Wheaton, 4-1, in both the first and fourth quarters to account the difference in the game. Wheaton owned a 35-23 shot advantage, despite the Corsairs winning 13 of 23 draws.
Senior midfielder Gabs Smart (Oakland, Maine), junior attacker Riley Kilbourn (Madison, Conn.) and sophomore attacker Georgia Qua (Suffield, Conn.) each tallied a pair of goals for the Lyons. Smart added four draw controls, four ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers, while Kilbourn picked up two ground balls. First year goalie Averie Walton (Cumberland, R.I.) made six saves in her first collegiate start.
Sophomore attacker Maddy Allen (Whitman, Mass.) matched her career high with eight points, including six goals, to lead UMass Dartmouth and added two draw controls and a pair of ground balls, while first year attacker Jenny Lipanovich (Henderson, Nev.) netted three goals and added an assist to go with four draw controls, three ground balls and a caused turnover. First year attacker Adella Mabee (Bangor, Maine) scored her first collegiate goal in addition to registering an assist and three ground balls. First year keeper Keira Bushey (Haverhill, Mass.) picked up her first collegiate victory with 13 saves for the Corsairs.
Allen scored the first four goals of the match for UMass Dartmouth in a span of 13:36, while Kilbourn put Wheaton on the board with its only goal of the opening quarter that ended with the Corsairs holding a 4-1 lead.
The Lyons closed to within one after Kilbourn and Smart netted the first two markers of the second quarter to cut the margin to 4-3 with 10:21 left in the period. UMass Dartmouth answered by closing out the half with three straight goals, including a score from Allen with 2:04 remaining in the quarter to give the visitors a 7-3 halftime cushion.
Lipanovich extended the scoring run to four straight for the Corsairs after finding the back of the net to open the second half and give UMass Dartmouth a five-goal margin with 9:44 showing on the third quarter clock. Wheaton countered with three unanswered goals, including a pair of advantage markers from Qua, to pull the Lyons within 8-6 with 84 seconds left in the quarter.
The Corsairs scored four of the five goals in the final quarter, including Mabee's first career score coming with 9:36 to play in the game. Graduated student middie Kyra Lyons (Attleboro, Mass.) netted the final goal of the day with 61 seconds to go in the match to cap the five-goal win for the visitors. Senior midfielder Kilee Sherry (Gorham, Maine) tallied the lone goal of the period for Wheaton.
The Lyons return to action when they travel to Worcester, Mass. to take on Worcester State University on Saturday, March 8 at 12:00 p.m., while UMass Dartmouth plays next on March 4 when it hosts Salve Regina University at 4:00 p.m.
