NORTON, Mass. — Senior midfielder Gabs Smart (Oakland, Maine) netted four goals and first year goalie Averie Walton (Cumberland, R.I.) stopped a career-high 14 shots to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team to an 11-9 victory over visiting Johnson & Wales University (R.I.) this evening at Nordin Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons improve to 2-3 on the season, while the Wildcats suffer their first defeat and slip to 3-1.
Johnson & Wales held a 36-30 shot advantage, but the Wildcats committed 19 turnovers to Wheaton's total of 13.
No team led by more than two goals in a match that featured five ties.
Smart added four ground balls and four caused turnovers for Wheaton, while senior attacker Lara Finnie (Westfield, Mass.) netted two goals and added an assist to go with three ground balls. Senior attacker Sophie Gromala (Killingworth, Conn.) contributed with a pair of goals and an assist. Walton played a career-high 60 minutes and made four saves in the pivotal fourth quarter.
Senior attacker Madeleine Gould (Oakdale, Conn.) tallied a game-high seven points with six goals and an assist to go with a ground ball for Johnson & Wales and junior attack Mila Kuilan (Danbury, Conn.) netted a goal, added an assist and picked up a pair of ground balls. Senior goalie Emma Glyman (Tolland, Conn.) made 10 saves for the Wildcats.
Gould scored a pair of markers in a span of 11 seconds to begin the fourth-quarter scoring and pull Johnson & Wales even at 9-9 with 12:44 remaining in the game.
Walton denied the last four shots on net by the Wildcats in the final 12-plus minutes of action, while Gromala scored to give the Lyons the lead for good at 10-9 with 8:29 to play in the quarter. Smart added an insurance goal with the final score of the match coming with 6:13 showing on the fourth quarter clock.
JWU jumped out to a 4-2 lead to open the quarter, fueled by three goals from Gould. Junior attacker Riley Kilbourn (Madison, Conn.) and Smart scored for the home team.
The Lyons tallied the first three goals of the second quarter, including a marker from Finnie to give Wheaton its first lead of the game at 5-4 with 4:57 remaining in the first half. Kuilan and first year midfielder Susannah Brown (Harwich, Mass.) scored back-to-back goals at 3:29 and 1:27 of the second quarter to reclaim the lead at 6-5 for the Wildcats, but it was their last lead of the contest.
The Lyons scored four of the next five goals by four different players, including Gromala, who gave Wheaton a 9-7 margin with the final score of the third quarter.
The Lyons return to action on Saturday, March 15 when they travel to Worcester, Mass. to open the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference slate with Clark University (Mass.) at 12:00 p.m., while Johnson & Wales hosts Westfield State University on March 18 at 6:00 p.m.
