SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The sixth-seeded Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team fell to number three seed and host Springfield College, 15-5, this afternoon in the opening round of the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Championship Tournament at Stagg Field in Springfield, Mass.
The Lyons conclude their season with an 11-7 record, while the Pride improve to 1106 and advance to the NEWMAC Semifinals to face second-seeded United States Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday, April 29 at 6:00 p.m. in New London, Conn.
Springfield did not allow more than two goals in any quarter and held Wheaton scoreless in the second quarter. The Pride owned a 32-17 shot advantage and were 16-19 in clearing attempts, while holding the Lyons to just 13-22 in clears for the afternoon. The home team held a 14-8 margin in draw controls as well.
Senior attacker Jessica Chamberlin (Bow, N.Y.) led Wheaton with four points on two goals and two assists in addition to a ground ball. Chamberlin finishes the campaign with 73 points for the highest total in a season for a Lyon since Molly Covarrubias '19 tallied 87 points in 2019. She ends her career with 150 points, including 94 goals and 56 assists and ranks sixth on Wheaton's career assist list. First year attacker Kaydie O'Neil (Sturbridge, Mass.) netted a goal, notched an assist, picked up two ground balls, caused a pair of turnovers and won two draw controls. Junior attacker Georgia Qua (Suffield, Conn.) also added a goal. Qua finished the year with 68 points and O'Neil had 59 points to give the Lyons three players with at least 59 points in a season for the first time since 2004 when Vanessa Pisano '05 tallied 94, Anna Lombard '07 had 83 points and Lauren Maynes '04 racked up 74 points.
Sophomore midfielder Emma-Jane Parsons (Oakland, Maine) contributed with a goal and picked up a ground ball for Wheaton. Junior goalie Jenna Langan (Lincoln, R.I.) stopped six of 18 shots in the first 45 minutes of action, before yielding to senior Katie Geis (Duxbury, Mass.), who turned away two of five shots in the fourth quarter.
Springfield sophomore attacker Claire Ognibene (New Canaan, Conn.) led all scorers in the game with seven points on four goals and three assists in addition to three ground balls and a caused turnover. Sophomore midfielder Payton Imhof (Bay Shore, N.Y.) netted four goals and added a ground ball, while senior attacker Lily Johnson (Oceanside, N.Y.) scored a pair of goals and assisted on three others to go with three caused turnovers and two ground balls. Senior midfielder Sarah Newton (Colchester, Conn.) registered two points on a goal and an assist in addition to a game-high six draw controls, two ground balls and a caused turnover. Sophomore goalie Lindsay Hillemeir (Unionville, Conn.) made seven saves for the Pride.
O'Neil put the Lyons on the board with the first goal of the game at the 13:34 mark of the opening quarter. The Pride made a strong statement with eight of the next nine goals, including all four markers in the second quarter, to take an 8-2 advantage with 12:31 left in the third quarter. Ognibene, Imhof, Johnson and junior attacker Kristyn Vasselin (Hudson, Mass.) each netted a pair of goals during Springfield's offensive outburst. Chamberlin scored an advantage goal with 2:46 to play in the first period for Wheaton's other marker in the opening half.
The Lyons received back-to-back goals from Chamberlin and Parsons to cut the deficit to 8-4 with 6:45 remaining in the third quarter. It was as close as they would get for the rest of the contest.
The Pride netted the final four goals of the third quarter and began the final period with three unanswered markers, paced by two goals apiece from Ognibene, Imhof and senior midfielder Liz Neri (Farmington, Conn.), to increase their margin to 15-4. Qua netted the final goal of the afternoon with 4:08 to play in the game.
