Wheaton Defeats Wellesley Lacrosse in NEWMAC Action

NORTON, Mass. – The Wellesley College lacrosse team dropped a 16-8 NEWMAC game on the road at Wheaton College on Saturday afternoon at Nordin Field. The loss evens the Blue's NEWMAC mark to 1-1 as Wellesley moves to 3-6 on the year, while Wheaton improves to 2-0 in the conference, 5-5 overall.

Wellesley junior Claire Canty paced the Blue with four points (three goals, one assist), while sophomore Chesley Hooker (two goals) and first-year Courtney Peterson (one goal, one assist) each added two points. Sophomore Nicole DeCanio and first-year Nikki Sharkin rounded out the Blue offense with solo scores. 

Sharkin and junior Meghan Peterson led the Blue with three caused turnovers each, while Sharkin and first-year Wendy Nettleton both tallied four ground balls. Rounding out the Blue box score, Canty had a game-high six draw controls, while Nettleton turned away 12 of 28 shots playing all 60 minutes in goal. 

Wheaton was led by junior Melanie Sharick and sophomore Brooke Sabol, who combined for eight goals and three assists. Both student-athletes finished with four goals, respectively. Senior Leila Mills recorded a hat trick, while dishing out one assist. Sophomores Allie Bush and Madison Cohen combined for three goals and three assists. 

Wheaton junior goalkeeper Katy Ananian stopped two shots and picked up her fifth win between the pipes.

The Lyons finished with 26 ground balls and 36 shots, while the Blue scooped 14 ground balls and registered 17 shots. Wheaton converted 18 of 22 clears, while Wellesley was 16 of 19. The Lyons won 17 draw controls, highlighted by senior Devon Soucier, who recorded a season-high eight.

The Blue won nine draws and netted one of four free position attempts. Wheaton recorded four goals on eight free position attempts.

Wheaton jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to back-to-back tallies from Bush and Millis, along with one of two free position strikes by Sabol. Wellesley halted the run with a tally from Hooker, who fired home a pass from Canty in the middle of the Lyons' zone. Canty netted her second goal roughly two minutes later when she bounced the ball through the middle of her opponent's zone at13:24.

Sharick and Mills recorded markers at 13:02 and 10:01, which pushed Wheaton ahead by three, but Hooker trimmed the deficit by rifling a shot over the middle, following a pass from senior Brit Mscisz.

Wheaton answered by netting three of the next four goals to secure an 8-4 lead at the break. The Lyons and Blue traded goals throughout the opening minutes of the second stanza, but it was Sharick's free position strike at 23:19 that sparked the Lyons to go on a 6-2 run to seal the win.

Wheaton  and Wellesley both return to action next week as the Lyons travel to Gordon College on Wednesday, April 3 for a 7 p.m. start and the Blue travel to Eastern Connecticut State on Tuesday, April 2 for a4:30 p.m. opening draw.