Wheaton Pulls Away From Lacrosse, 17-9

Game Statistics

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (March 27, 2010) – Junior midfielder Tess Meyer racked up five goals and one assist to push the Wheaton College women’s lacrosse team to a 17-9 victory over Mount Holyoke College this afternoon at the Mount Holyoke Turf Field. It was the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opener for both squads.

Sophomores Hailey Colburn, Katie Powers and Brittany Whynot each recorded hat tricks for Wheaton, which has now downed Mount Holyoke 15 times in a row. The guests finished with a 14-13 advantage in draw controls.

Mount Holyoke was paced by senior midfielder Peggy Wefald, who exploded for six goals for the third time this season. With her six tallies, she surpassed Caitlin Taylor ’06 as the program’s all-time leader in career goals scored with 182. The midfielder also registered five draw controls. Sophomore midfielder Hilary Bombard found the back of the net twice for the hosts.

Wheaton scored the first two goals of the day and led 4-1 following a Powers tally at the 22:27 mark. Mount Holyoke responded with a 3-1 run over the next 10 minutes to slice the deficit to 5-4. Wefald was responsible for all three goals during the span.

Colburn put an end to the spurt at the 11:07 mark, and Whynot tacked on two more goals to extend Wheaton’s cushion to 8-4 at the break. The guests then outscored Mount Holyoke 9-5 in the second half to pull away. Their final margin of eight goals was their largest of the afternoon. Meyer posted three of her five goals afternoon the intermission.

Mount Holyoke fell despite a 29-27 advantage in the shot column. Junior goalkeeper Marianna Marcellino turned in a terrific effort between the pipes for Wheaton, making 16 saves en route to her first win of the year. Sophomore goalkeeper Jeanmarie Petersen made eight stops for the home team.

Mount Holyoke (4-3, 0-1 NEWMAC) will return to action on Wednesday, when it visits Eastern Connecticut State University for a non-conference contest beginning at 4:30 p.m. Wheaton (2-3, 1-0 NEWMAC) is scheduled to visit Bridgewater State College on Thursday at 4:00 p.m.