BEVERLY, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) field hockey team was defeated by host No. 24 Endicott College, 7-0, this evening at North Field in Beverly, Mass.
The Lyons dip to 3-3 on the season, while the Gulls, who are ranked in the most recent National Field Hockey Coaches Association national poll, improve to 4-1.
The Gulls owned a formidable 19-7 shot advantage, including 13-2 on cage. Endicott held Wheaton to just one shot in the opening half. The Lyons outshot their hosts, 6-5 in the second stanza and owned a 12-7 margin on penalty corners for the match.
Endicott got on the board 11:30 into the match and scored its first two markers in a span of 61 seconds to take a 2-0 lead with 2:29 left to play in the opening quarter.
Sophomore defender Riley Perkins (Lakeville, Mass.) broke into the scoring column for the Gulls after converting a penalty stroke with 3:30 to go in the first period. Senior Reagan Hicks (Barnstable, Mass.) followed with a goal just 61 seconds later when she scored off a feed from senior midfielder Lily Farnham (Andover, Mass.).
The Gulls doubled their lead with two more scores that came in a 2:45 span in the final four minutes of the second quarter for a 4-0 advantage. Senior forward Tori Swanson (Farmington, Conn.) and junior forward Emma Wilichoski (Danvers, Mass.) factored in both goals. Swanson potted her fifth goal of the year on a helper from Wilichoski with 3:48 to go in the first half, before Swanson returned the favor, assisting on Wilichoski's first marker of the season 2:45 later.
Hicks tallied her second goal of the night and fourth of the season just 2:07 into the third quarter to bump the home team's cushion to 5-0. Farnham also scored an unassisted goal with 91 seconds to play in the quarter to give Endicott a comfortable 6-0 advantage.
Sophomore forward Sabrina Brunet (South Burlington, Vt.) capped the scoring for the Gulls with her second goal of the year with 4:41 remaining in the contest.
The Lyons put pressure on Endicott with five penalty corners in a span of 45 seconds in the third quarter, but were unable to come away with a score. Wheaton looked to get on the board late in the fourth quarter with first year Sophie Kaczmarek (Gorham, Maine) unleashing a pair of shots following a penalty corner, but was unable to break through.
Wheaton's offensive effort was led by three shots from sophomore forward Kayla Wilonski (Wallingford, Conn.). Sophomore starting goalie Elise LeBlanc (Hampstead, N.H.) made her collegiate debut for the Lyons by stopping four of eight shots in the opening half, before yielding to first year keeper Molly Braica (Goffstown, N.H.), who was also seeing game action for the first time at the collegiate level. The rookie turned away two of five attempts in the second stanza.
Sophomore goalie Faith Minickene (Madison, Conn.) was untested in the first 30 minutes for Endicott and senior keeper Alexis DeMattia (Methuen, Mass.) made a pair of saves in the second session for the Gulls.
The Lyons return to action on Saturday, September 20 when they open New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play in Northampton, Mass. against Smith College at 11:00 a.m., while the Gulls host University of Hartford on the same day at 1:00 p.m.
