SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team saw 12 different players score at least one goal in a 17-8 victory over host Mount Holyoke College this afternoon in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference contest at MHC Turf in South Hadley, Mass.
The Lyons have won three in a row and five of their last six to improve to 9-3 for their best start since 2012. The Blue and White are now 4-2 in conference play. MHC dips to 5-5 and 1-5.
Wheaton held a 34-27 shooting margin and held its host to just three for nine in clearing attempts in the first half and 9-16 for the game. The Lyons won 16 of 27 draw controls.
Sophomore midfielder Emma-Jane Parsons (Oakland, Maine) and first year attacker Kaydie O'Neil (Sturbridge, Mass.) each tallied three points, including two goals apiece to lead Wheaton. Junior attacker Georgia Qua (Suffield, Conn.) netted a pair of goals, picked up a ground ball and won a pair of draw controls, while sophomore middie Alexis Antonellis (Lyme, Conn.) scored twice and caused two turnovers. Junior attacker Kelsey Bennett (Harrison, Maine) also found the back of the net on two occasions and senior defender Katie Hallee (Norway, Maine) won eight draw controls and notched a pair of ground balls. Junior goalie Jenna Langan (Lincoln, R.I.) stopped three of six shots in the first 30 minutes of play, before yielding to senior Katie Geis (Duxbury, Mass.), who turned away three of eight shots in the second half.
Sophomore midfielder Juliana Spaulding (Wakefield, Mass.) registered a game-high three goals and nine draw controls and added four ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers. Senior attacker Elle Mader (Cincinnati, Ohio) struck for a pair of goals and senior attacker Emi Bisson (Chester, Conn.) led all players with six assists in addition to three ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers. Sophomore goalie Valeria Bolanos (Newington, Conn.) made 10 saves.
The Lyons scored the first five goals of the afternoon in a span of less than six minutes, paced by a pair of scores from Qua. Spaulding sandwiched a pair of markers around a score from Parsons, to cut the deficit to 6-2 with 3:17 left in the quarter for the home team. Wheaton tallied the final two goals of the quarter, including markers from senior attacker Jessica Chamberlin (Bow, N.H.) and first year midfielder Kendall Maxon (Wells, Maine).
First year midfielder Grace Bird (Deerfield, Mass.) scored an advantage goal to open the second quarter scoring for the MHC Lyons, before O'Neil and Parsons each scored to close out the first half for the Lyons with a 10-3 cushion.
Wheaton continued its momentum into the third quarter by scoring five of the six goals, including a pair from Antonellis to increase the Lyons' advantage to 15-4 for their largest lead of the contest. Spaulding scored the lone goal in the quarter for Mount Holyoke. MHC tallied the first three markers of the fourth period, including a goal from first year midfielder Rory Bernardo (Oaklyn, N.J.), to pull the home team within 15-7 at the 11:09 mark of the quarter. Bennett and first year Lucy Knof (Cologne, North-Rhein-Westphalia, Germany) bookended a marker from Mader to set the final at 17-8.
Wheaton returns to action on Wednesday, April 8 when it hosts NEWMAC foe Emerson College at 7:00 p.m. on Nordin Field, while the MHC Lyons travel to Newport, R.I. to take on Salve Regina University on the same day at 6:00 p.m.
