NORTON, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's lacrosse team was defeated by visiting Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 20-11, this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Nordin Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.

The Lyons dip to 9-5 overall and 2-4 in league play, while the Engineers improve to 8-6 and 5-1.

Wheaton honored its five seniors prior to the game, lauding the contributions of seniors Emmett Edwards (Sunderland, Vt.), Charlie Goodrich (Fairfield, Conn.), Karter Noyes (Manchester Center, Vt.), John Schulz (West Harford, Conn.) and Jack Walter (Bradley, Beach, N.J.). 

MIT overwhelmed the home team with a 60-30 shooting margin and was a perfect 21 for 21 in clears, while holding the Lyons to 23-28. The Engineers won 27 of 35 face-offs for the day.

Senior midfielder Oscar Lindenthal (Vero Beach, Fla.) netted three goals and added four ground balls and a caused turnover for MIT, while junior attacker Hayden Calabretta (Lloyd Harbor, N.Y.) also scored three times to go with a pair of caused turnovers and a ground ball. Senior midfielder Garrett Campagna (Lancaster, Pa.) finished with five points, including a pair of goals, and added a ground ball. First year face-off specialist Kaden Fenno (San Antonio, Texas) won 15 of 18 draws and picked up a game-high eight ground balls. Senior goalie Collin Lung (Lynbrook, N.Y.) stopped seven shots for the Engineers.

Edwards netted five goals to lead Wheaton and give him 117 for his career to stand seventh in school history. Junior midfielder Evan Paturzo (Bellingham, Mass.) tallied five points with two goals and three assists and Goodrich collected five points, including a goal. Junior middie Will Durkee (Oakland, Maine) contributed with two ground balls, a caused turnover and an assist. Junior goalie Evan Borchert (Littleton, Colo.) finished with 18 saves for the Lyons.

MIT set the tone right away with three goals in the first 63 seconds of the game in a span of 20 seconds. Pierce scored twice during the opening blitz and added another marker with 11:12 to go in the opening quarter to give the visitors a 4-0 margin. Junior attacker Theo Stamatel (Plainville, Mass.) ended the scoring string for the Engineers and put Wheaton on the board with his 28th goal of the season at the 8:28 mark of the quarter to make it 4-1. It was as close as the Lyons would get for the remainder of the contest.

MIT tallied three of the final four goals of the period, including a pair from senior midfielder Oscar Lindenthal (Vero Beach, Fla.), to increase its lead to 7-2.

Edwards sandwiched a pair of goals around the first goal of the season for Engineer junior midfielder Ashton Axe (Portola Valley, Calif.), to cut the deficit to 8-4 for Wheaton with 11 minutes to play in the opening half. Calabretta and junior middie Denley Kofoed (Centennial, Colo.) registered back-to-back goals for MIT to close the quarter and give the visitors a 10-4 halftime advantage.

Pierce netted the first goal of the third quarter for the Engineers to extend their lead to 11-4 with 11:56 showing on the third quarter clock. The Lyons ripped off three straight goals, including two with a player advantage to pull within 11-7 with 3:31 left in the quarter. Sophomore midfielder Zac DiLauri (Parsippany, N.J.), sophomore attacker Colin Willoe (North Andover, Mass.) and Goodrich all scored during the offensive stretch for Wheaton. Calabretta and Lindenthal bookended scores around a marker from Edwards to increase MIT's cushion to 13-8 at the end of three quarters of play.

Paturzo scored just 65 seconds into the fourth quarter to cut the difference to 15-10 for the Lyons, but the Engineers didn't let up, scoring seven of the final nine goals to finish the contest. Campagna and Pierce each netted two goals apiece, while Paturzo and Edwards each scored for Wheaton in the final nine minutes of the game.

The Lyons return to action when they travel to New London, Conn. to end the regular circuit against league rival United States Coast Guard Academy on Saturday, April 25 at 1:00 p.m., while MIT returns on the same day, hosting NEWMAC foe Babson College in the regular-season finale at 1:00 p.m.