NEWPORT, R.I. — Senior attacker Jessica Chamberlin (Bow, N.H.) netted a game-high six goals to lead a Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team, which put together a decisive second-half stretch that led to a 14-10 victory this afternoon over host Salve Regina University in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Gaudet Field in Middletown, R.I.
The Lyons improve to 6-2 on the season, including 1-1 in league play, while the Seahawks drop to 4-3 and 1-1. Wheaton runs their road record to a perfect 4-0.
Despite Salve Regina owning a 38-31 shot advantage and committing just 12 turnovers compared to 17 total miscues for the Lyons, Wheaton used a 7-0 run that spanned the third and fourth quarters, to take the lead for good and propel it to victory.
Chamberlin has scored five or more goals on three occasions this season and added a draw control for the Lyons, while junior attacker Georgia Qua (Suffield, Conn.) tallied six points, including three goals, to go with a career-high five draw controls and a ground ball. First year attacker Kaydie O'Neil (Sturbridge, Mass.) contributed with a goal, three assists, four ground balls, four draw controls and a caused turnover and sophomore midfielder Alexis Antonellis (Lyme, Conn.) came up with a game-high six ground balls in addition to a goal, an assist and three caused turnovers. Junior goalie Jenna Langan (Lincoln, R.I.) registered a career-high 17 saves for Wheaton.
Junior midfielder Alix Madden (Plymouth, Mass.) led the Seahawks with four goals and two assists in addition to a draw control, while sophomore attacker Madison Maire (East Moriches, N.Y.) chipped in with a pair of scores. Senior attacker Delia Tarasco (Seaford, N.Y.) netted a goal, assisted on two others, picked up three ground balls and caused a turnover. First year defender Mia Gilbart (Valley Cottage, N.Y.) picked up four ground balls, won a draw control and recorded a game-high four caused turnovers. Sophomore keeper Mary Flynn Kayajan (Hyannis, Mass.) finished with 12 stops for Salve Regina.
Madden scored one of the final two goals of the second half and one of the first two markers of the third quarter during a 4-0 run that gave the Seahawks a 7-6 edge with 10:50 to play in the third quarter.
The Lyons' defense put the clamps on Salve Regina over the next 19-plus minutes, while the offense reeled off seven straight goals, including three from Qua and two from Chamberlin, to give Wheaton an eye-opening 13-7 advantage with 8:04 to go in the game. Madden took a feed from senior attacker Delia Tarasco (Seaford, N.Y.) to break up the home team's scoring drought and pull the Seahawks to within 13-8 at the 6:31 mark of the fourth quarter. The goal sparked a 4-1 run to close out the contest and cut the difference to four goals, but it wasn't nearly enough to come back from the gap created by the Lyons' spirited combination of defense and offense.
Chamberlin tallied the first two markers of the game for Wheaton with the second giving the visitors a 2-0 lead with 7:47 remaining in the opening period. Salve Regina responded by netting the final three goals of the quarter, including a marker from Tarasco to give the Seahawks a 3-2 edge with 3:12 showing in the initial period.
The Lyons controlled the first half of the second quarter with four unanswered goals, including a pair from Chamberlin and a marker from sophomore midfielder Claudia Shoemaker (Woodstock, Vt.) to give Wheaton a 6-3 advantage with 9:16 left in the opening half.
The Lyons return to action on Wednesday, March 25 when they travel to Northampton, Mass. to take on NEWMAC rival Smith College at 6:00 p.m., while the Seahawks host conference foe Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the same day at the same time.
