SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- Sophomore
Camila Leiva (Warwick, R.I.) slid a beautiful cross right to the foot of sophomore
Karina Contreras (Pawtucket, R.I.) to start the scoring for the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's soccer team in the second half at Mount Holyoke. The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference contest was blown wide open just three minutes later as Leiva collected a rebound off her own shot that struck the post and buried it in the top-right to give Wheaton an authoritative 5-1 lead. 86 seconds later, Leiva was in on goal thanks to a perfect through-ball from senior
Maya Thomas (Goffstown, N.H.) with only the opposing goalkeeper to beat. A simple and composed left-footed shot scored Leiva's second goal of the game and put Wheaton ahead 6-1. Less than three minutes later Contreras was fouled inside the Mount Holyoke penalty area, which allowed Leiva to complete the first hat-trick by a Wheaton player since
Kate Wickenheisser '26 scored three against Roger Williams on September 9, 2023.
Wheaton took home a solid 9-1 victory after the 90 minute contest was completed. The Lyons improved to 5-3-2 overall and 2-1-1 in the NEWMAC. Mount Holyoke fell to 3-5-2 overall and remained winless in the NEWMAC as they fell to 0-3.
Wheaton's nine goals are the most in a single game since October 9, 2021 against Mount Holyoke and are tied for the fifth most in program history. Leiva finished with a hat-trick of goals and two assists across just 52 minutes of play. Contreras scored twice to bring her season total to five, while sophomore
Kaydie O'Neil (Sturbridge, Mass.) added an assist after she scored her second career goal for the Lyons. Thomas and first year
Ariana Rosario (South Windsor, Conn.) each scored their second goal of the season while first year
Callie Johnson (Marshfield, Mass.) rounded out the scoring with her first collegiate goal. Sophomore goalkeeper
Olivia King (Simsbury, Conn.) allowed one goal on seven shots faced in 68 minutes between the posts. Senior
Mikaela Reynolds (Longmeadow, Mass.) played the remaining 22 minutes without facing a shot.
Mount Holyoke's lone goal of the contest was scored by senior Sage Hudson (Washington, D.C.) as she also led her team with three shots on goal. First year goalkeeper Anya Johnson (Burlington, Vt.) saw a touch over two-thirds of the contest before she gave way to senior Emma Zoubok (Somers, N.Y.) for the final 23 minutes. Johnson finished with nine saves while Zoubok made two on four shots faced.
O'Neil only needed two minutes before she started the scoring party for Wheaton. She made a normal-looking run down the right wing before cutting in towards the middle of the pitch as if to cross the ball. Instead of crossing it to an open teammate, O'Neil floated the ball into the far post's top corner. Her quick release caught Mount Holyoke's goalkeeper off guard, and Wheaton was ahead 1-0 after just 162 seconds.
The hosting Lyons were able to settle things down on defense after the opening score. They tried to gain some ground offensively, but King was up to the task as she made two early saves. 15 minutes elapsed, and again Wheaton was able to find the back of the net. This time it was Contreras that - through sheer determination - won the ball from the Mount Holyoke defense and pounded a cross-body shot into the bottom-left corner for a 2-0 lead.
20 seconds later, the Lyons struck again. Junior
Maile Chargualaf (Broomfield, Colo.) stepped up to intercept a Mount Holyoke pass and found Leiva open in the midfield. Leiva turned and, despite the pressure from four defenders, slid the perfect pass to a surging Thomas. Thomas needed only one touch to beat Johnson, and Wheaton leaped forward to a 3-0 lead.
Mount Holyoke answered in the final moments of the first half as Hudson found herself in on goal after a through ball. King did well to come off her line to reduce the angle, but Hudson - one of the NEWMACs leading scorers alongside Leiva - was able to beat the sophomore netminder with a composed shot into the bottom-right with five seconds to play in the frame. Wheaton still held a strong lead at the break as they entered the locker room up 3-1.
King made a routine save early on in the second half, but Mount Holyoke would quickly find themselves defending soon after. Contreras and Leiva were an unstoppable duo as they continually made runs deep into their attacking third. It took less than eight minutes for the two to link up and produce a goal as Leiva again flew down the left wing. Instead of picking out the shot, she found Contreras open in the middle. Contreras had no trouble finishing the chance as Leiva placed the ball right on her feet, and the Lyons quickly went ahead 4-1.
Leiva continued to display an insatiable appetite for goals as she kept the pressure going with more runs deep into the opposing Lyons' zone. Her first goal came less than three minutes after her assist, and she scored again two minutes later. The penalty kick that Contreras drew completed the hat trick in just 4:56 of game time. The successful conversion from the spot made Leiva the first player to earn at least five goal contributions since Emily Hough '10 scored four goals and assisted twice against Coast Guard on October 4th, 2008.
The game settled down after Leiva's impressive display, but the Lyons continued to keep the pressure on Mount Holyoke. The 79th minute saw their work pay off once again as Rosario worked her way into space during a corner kick. Her opportune movement left her wide open in the center of Mount Holyoke's penalty area, and a lofted header shot slipped over the outstretched arms of Zoubok to give Wheaton an 8-1 lead.
Wheaton still had one more goal left in them, and Johnson made sure to punch it into the back of the net. First year
Scarlett Oberton (North Falmouth, Mass.) floated a beautiful cross towards Johnson, who wrestled away from the defender marking her to chip Zoubok for her first collegiate goal. Oberton also picked up her first collegiate point after receiving credit for the assist. Wheaton saw out the remaining five minutes without drama and finished as the 9-1 winners.
Wheaton will have a week between games as they get set to host Wellesley next Saturday at 1:00 pm in Norton. Mount Holyoke will stay at home for a midweek conference contest against Smith in South Hadley on Wednesday at 7:00 pm.
