NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team was held off by host Smith College in a 13-9 loss this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Smith Astro Turf Field in Northampton, Mass.
The Lyons slip to 6-3 overall and 1-2 in league play, while the Bears have won four of their last five and improve to 7-3 and a perfect 3-0 in NEWMAC action. The loss was Wheaton's first on the road in five contests, while Smith improved its home mark to 6-0.
The Bears controlled possession with a 31-17 shot advantage and just nine turnovers. Despite committing 14 turnovers, the Lyons were 16-16 on their clear attempts. Smith won 16 of 25 draw controls.
First year attacker Kaydie O'Neil (Sturbridge, Mass.) netted three goals and added an assist, a ground ball, a draw control and a caused turnover, while senior attacker Natalie Bilodeau (Scarborough, Maine) found the back of the net twice for Wheaton. Juniors Georgia Qua (Suffield, Conn.) and Annemieke Buterbaugh (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) each netted a goal to go with a pair of ground balls. Junior goalie Jenna Langan (Lincoln, R.I.) made 10 saves for the Lyons.
Junior attacker Kyra Hawk (San Jose, Calif.) and sophomore attacker Layna Fitzgerald (Indianapolis, Ind.) each tallied six goals to lead the Bears. Hawk needed just eight shots and added three ground balls and a draw control, while Fitzgerald won a draw control as well. Senior midfielder Caroline Sanders (Portland, Ore.) won a game-high nine draw controls in addition to a pair of assists, two ground balls and a caused turnover. Senior keeper Brooke Testa (Pittstown, N.J.) turned away one of eight shots in the first 45 minutes of play, before yielding to senior Shannon Houtenville (East Windsor, N.J.), who stopped four of six attempts in the final 15 minutes of play.
The teams traded goals throughout the first 26-plus minutes of the game with the fifth tie of the contest coming after Wheaton sophomore attacker Claudia Shoemaker (Woodstock, Vt.) scored to make it 5-5 with 3:39 to play in the opening half. Prior to that, Hawk had opened the game with a goal just 19 seconds into the contest, before senior attacker Jessica Chamberlin (Bow, N.H.) and O'Neil scored back-to-back goals for the Lyons to give them a 2-1 edge at the 7:53 mark of the first quarter. Hawk and O'Neil each traded two goals apiece to keep Wheaton in front at 4-3 with 9:30 showing in the second period. Hawk netted two more markers, before Shoemaker tied it for the Lyons.
Hawk and Fitzgerald scored the final two goals of the quarter to give the home team a two-goal lead heading into the intermission at 7-5. Smith carried its momentum into the third quarter with Fitzgerald scoring twice for a string of three straight goals from the sophomore to increase the Bears' cushion to 9-5 with 7:48 showing on the third quarter clock.
Bilodeau tallied the next two goals for Wheaton to cut the deficit to 9-7 before the end of the quarter came just 96 seconds later. Fitzgerald sandwiched a pair of markers around another Smith goal coming from first year midfielder Brooke Everson (Chapel Hill, N.C.) to give the Bears their largest lead of the night at 12-7 with 8:46 remaining in the contest.
Qua and Buterbaugh scored consecutive goals in a span of 30 seconds to pull the Lyons within 12-9 with 4:37 left in the game, but it was as close as they would come for the remainder of the game. Fitzgerald matched Hawk with her sixth score of the evening to cap the scoring at 13-9 for Smith with 43 ticks left in the match.
Wheaton returns to the turf on Saturday, March 28 when it hosts NEWMAC rival Clark University (Mass.) on Nordin Field at 1:00 p.m., while the Bears travel to Babson Park, Mass. on the same day for a 1:00 p.m. tilt with conference foe Babson College.
