NORTON, Mass. – Junior forward Kayla Wilonski (Wallingford, Conn.) tallied three points with a goal and an assist to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) field hockey team over visiting Bridgewater State University, 3-0, this afternoon at Nordin Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons win their fourth straight and five of their last six to improve to 8-5 on the season, while the Bears fall to 7-5.
Bridgewater State entered the game as the nation's leader in goals per game, before Wheaton handed the Bears their first shutout loss of the season.
The Lyons outshot Bridgewater State, 22-14, despite the Bears holding a 10-9 edge in penalty corners.
Wilonski tallied the game's first goal and assisted on the second. Sophomore defender Carys Mitchell (Holderness, N.H.) and junior forward Ava Audette (Essex Junction, Vt.) added a goal each for the home team. Junior goalie Elise LeBlanc (Hampstead, N.H.) made one save in the opening half, before yielding to sophomore Molly Braica (New Boston, N.H.) for a stop of her own in the second half to combine on Wheaton's second blank sheet of the season.
Senior midfielder Abbie Zuber (Westport, Mass.) paced the Bridgewater State offense with five shots. Sophomore keeper Aubrey Finn (Marshfield, Mass.) turned away eight shots for the visitors.
Following a scoreless first quarter, the Lyons got on the board just over five minutes into the second quarter to take a 1-0 edge. Sophomore forward Gia Marotta (Lynnfield, Mass.) fed Wilonski just outside the goal mouth on the left side, before Wilonski carried the ball to her right. Wilonski unleashed a shot that was initially stopped by the Bears' keeper, but had enough mustard on it to continue on over the goal line for the junior's team-high 10th marker of the season with 9:41 to go in the second period.
Wheaton clung to a one-goal lead for the rest of the second quarter and the balance of the third period, before scoring twice in the fourth quarter to increase its advantage to 3-0. The Lyons doubled their lead on a penalty corner early in the quarter. First year defender Sadie Tranter (Simsbury, Conn.) sent the insert pass to Mitchell on the edge of the arc. Mitchell sent a cross to Wilonski, who returned the favor with a pass back to Mitchell, who lifted a hard shot past the Bridgewater State goalie for her first marker of the season just 2:12 into the period.
Wheaton padded its lead with an insurance goal coming off another penalty corner with 3:33 remaining in the contest. Santer inserted again to Mitchell, who fired a shot that trickled off a defender to Audette on the right side, who zipped a shot inside the right post for her first goal of the year.
The Bears looked to crack the scoring column in the final minutes of the game when first year midfielder Kaelyn Zuber (Westport, Mass.) made a rush into the Lyons' defensive zone, but Braica came off her line to snuff out the attempt with 1:46 to go in the game.
Wheaton returns to the turf on Saturday, October 17 when it travels to Cambridge, Mass. to take on New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference foe Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 1:00 p.m., while Bridgewater State hosts Salem State University on October 14 at 7:00 p.m.
