NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) field hockey team was defeated by visiting Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 5-1, this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Nordin Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons dip to 4-5 overall and 1-2 in league play, while the Engineers win their fifth straight and six of their last seven to improve to 8-2 and a perfect 3-0.
WPI controlled the match, owning a 13-4 shooting advantage, including a dominant third quarter that saw the Engineers attempt all seven shots in the period. WPI doubled up in penalty corners with an 8-4 margin.
Junior forward Hannah Fortin (South Dartmouth, Mass.) scored Wheaton's lone goal on an assist from senior forward Riley Levrault (Lakeville, Mass.). Junior goalie Grace Ferguson (Williston, Vt.) made four saves for the home team and senior defender Abby Miller (Andover, Mass.) registered a defensive save.
Graduate student midfielder Lauren Meinhold (Boxboro, Mass.) scored a pair of goals and junior forward Chloe Luongo (Amherst, N.H.) scored a goal and assisted on another to join Meinhold in factoring into multiple scores for WPI. Senior midfielder Leah Uglevich (Maynard, Mass.) and senior forward Abbey Powers (Halifax, Mass.) each found the back of the cage as well for the Engineers. Sophomore keeper Myles Lakin (Reading, Mass.) stopped two of three shots in the opening 52:38, before yielding to junior Nina Van Ekelenburg (Abington, Pa.), who made one save in the final 7:22 of action.
The Lyons pulled even with their only goal of the night coming with 5:39 to go in the second quarter. Levrault uncorked a shot from the top of the circle on a penalty corner, before Fortin re-directed the attempt for her fifth goal of the season to make it 1-1.
Meinhold's first marker snapped a 1-1 tie to give WPI a lead it would not relinquish with 2:17 left to play in the second quarter. Luongo carried the ball along the right side on the endline, before sending a cross to the top of the circle, where Meinhold unleashed a shot that whistled past the Lyon keeper and into the back of the cage for a 2-1 edge and her seventh marker of the year.
Meinhold's second marker was the first of the second half and sparked three straight goals in a span of 2:27 to increase the visitor's advantage to 5-1 with 14:05 remaining in the contest.
Much like her first goal, Meinhold's second score came in the waning minutes of the period. Sophomore forward Emma Barton (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) sent the insert cross to Meinhold on the penalty corner, before she wound up with a blast that made its way to the back of the cage with 92 seconds left in the quarter for a 3-1 Engineer margin.
WPI added to its advantage with another score, coming just 57 ticks later, to increase the difference to four goals. Senior forward Eve Martineau (Greene, Maine) fired a shot from the top of the circle, on a penalty corner, that was tipped up into the air by sophomore midfielder Madeline Chase (Haverhill, Mass.) before setting in front of Uglevich. The midfielder collected the loose ball and converted a shot from the left slot for her fifth goal of the season. Luongo capped the game's scoring when she received the ball in the circle, before sending a back-handed shot past the Wheaton keeper, who had come off her line, and into the back of the cage for her first goal of the season just 55 seconds into the final quarter of play.
The Engineers established their theme of scoring late quarter goals when they tallied the first marker of the night with 68 seconds remaining in the first quarter for a 1-0 lead. First year midfielder Ava Walker (Grafton, Mass.) carried the ball down the right side, before sending a centering pass to a crashing Powers for the senior's sixth goal of the season and Walker's first collegiate point.
Wheaton returns to play when it heads to South Hadley, Mass. on Saturday, October 4 to play NEWMAC rival Mount Holyoke College at 1:00 p.m., while WPI travels to Babson Park, Mass. to take on league rival Babson College at 12:00 p.m. on the same day.
