CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team was defeated by No. 25 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 22-6, this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Jack Barry Field in Cambridge, Mass.
The Lyons fall to 10-5 overall and 5-4 in league play, while the Engineers, who are ranked in the most recent Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association national poll, improve to 12-3 and 8-0.
Junior attacker Georgia Qua (Suffield, Conn.) tallied her 100th career point to become the second Wheaton player to reach the mark this season after senior Jessica Chamberlin (Bow, N.H.) collected her 100th on March 12.
MIT owned a 36-20 shot advantage, while the Lyons committed 21 turnovers, compared to 14 by their host. The Engineers held Wheaton to a 9-15 success rate in clears, while the home team was 18-22. MIT also won 17 of 31 draws.
Qua finished with a goal, a ground ball and a caused turnover for the Lyons. Chamberlin registered three points, including a pair of goals and added a ground ball. Sophomore Alexis Antonellis (Lyme, Conn.) netted a goal, picked up two ground balls and caused a turnover, while sophomore midfielder Saige Winslow (Waterford, Maine) came up with a game-high eight draw controls in addition to a ground ball. Junior goalie Jenna Langan (Lincoln, R.I.) stopped six of 17 shots in 22:35 of play, while senior Katie Geis (Duxbury, Mass.) turned away four of 15 shots in 37:25 of action.
The Engineers were led by senior attacker Annica Lam (Livingston, N.J.), who netted a season-high eight goals on 10 shots and added a ground ball. Senior midfielder Gwen Flusche (Ridgewood, N.J.) won four draw controls to become the school's all-time leader with 274 in addition to scoring three goals, assisting on another and picking up a ground ball. Senior attacker Ashley Thomas (Summit, N.J.) racked up a game-high nine points with two goals and seven assists to go with a ground ball and a caused turnover. Junior goalie Pauline Vien (Brookline, Mass.) turned back three of eight shots in the first 30 minutes of play, before yielding to senior keeper Molly Dulde (Delafield, Wis.), who denied three of four shots in the second half.
MIT scored the first seven goals of the game, led by a pair of goals from Lam.
Qua's 100th point came on her 42nd goal of the season at the 6:12 mark of the opening quarter to put Wheaton on the board at 7-1.
The Engineers scored five of the final six markers of the first quarter, including a trio of scores from Lam, to take an 11-2 advantage after one quarter of play. Antonellis netted her 17th goal of the year for the Lyons during the flurry.
Lam opened the scoring with 2:08 gone in the second quarter for MIT, before Wheaton ripped off three unanswered goals, including a pair from Chamberlin and a marker from senior attacker Natalie Bilodeau (Scarborough, Maine) to pull the Lyons within 13-5 with 4:42 to play in the half. Flusche and senior midfielder Nina Petulla (Natick, Mass.) netted the final two goals of the opening half to give the Engineers a 15-5 halftime cushion.
MIT netted all four third-quarter goals, paced by a pair of markers from Lam. The Engineers took a 19-5 lead into the final quarter of play.
Thomas scored the first goal of the fourth quarter, before Wheaton first year attacker Sophie Harris (Cheshire, Conn.) matched her, just over four minutes later, to make it 20-6 with 9:01 showing on the fourth quarter clock.
Junior midfielder Laura Day (Old Saybrook, Conn.) and sophomore defender Laila Salgado (Orchard Park, N.Y.) scored the final two goals for MIT.
The Lyons return to action on Friday, April 17 when they head to Providence, R.I. to take on Johnson & Wales University at 5:00 p.m., while the Engineers travel to New London, Conn. to play NEWMAC foe United States Coast Guard Academy on April 18 at 12:00 p.m.
