BOSTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's soccer team was nipped by a late goal in a 1-0 loss to host Emerson College this afternoon in the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference opener at Rotch Field in Boston, Mass.
The Lyons slip to 4-2 overall and 0-1 in NEWMAC play, while the Lions improve to 3-2-2 and 1-0.
Emerson controlled possession with a 22-7 shot advantage, including 15-4 in shots on frame. The Lions were awarded a 7-1 margin in corner kicks as well.
Wheaton senior keeper Patricia Bandrup (Poway, Calif.) was outstanding in net, while backing a defense that held Emerson scoreless for over 82 minutes, despite the wide shot disparity. Bandrup finished with 13 stops.
The only goal of the match came with 7:26 remaining in the contest. The Lions put the ball in play from the right corner flag on a corner kick with the ball being boxed around. It looked to be a thwarted set piece, until first year defender Kate Baldock (Edmonds, Wash.) lifted a cross from the right slot to the left slot, where junior back Carmen Talavera (Los Angeles, Calif.) was able to send a header into the back of the net to give the home team a 1-0 margin.
The Lyons threatened to get on the board early in the first half when senior forward Ali Roche (Maynard, Mass.) fired a shot from the right side of the box, but Emerson sophomore keeper Hailey Forman (Saratoga, Calif.) made a diving stop to her right to keep the match scoreless. Wheaton made another run when first year Kate Rafferty (Westerly, R.I.) sent a thru-ball to Mackenna Reynolds (Longmeadow, Mass.) into the box, where she was one-on-one with the keeper, before unleashing a shot from the right side, but again Forman denied the attempt with 6:34 to go in the initial half.
Forman finished the contest with four saves for the Lions.
Wheaton returns to action on Wednesday, September 24 when it heads to Beverly, Mass. to take on Endicott College at 7:00 p.m., while Emerson travels to Newport, R.I. on September 27 for a 12:00 p.m. conference tilt with Salve Regina University.
