SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Powered by a 10-goal effort in the second half, Wheaton College earned a 16-7 victory over Mount Holyoke College in a Battle of the Lyons on the MHC Turf Field. With the win, Wheaton improves to 6-5 and remains perfect in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action at 3-0. MHC slips to 1-7 overall with an 0-3 mark in conference play.
Holding a 6-3 advantage after the opening half of action, Wheaton broke open the game with a 5-0 run. Senior attack Brooke Sabol (Landgrove, Vt./Burr & Burton Academy) notched the first of her four tallies at the 26:49 mark, converting a great pass from the top of the arc by classmate Jenna Tewksbury (Concord, N.H./Concord).
Senior attack Allie Bush (Kennebunk, Maine/Kennebunk) made it an 8-3 margin less than two minutes later, and a score by classmate Ava Myette (Brattleboro, Vt./Brattleboro) off a high pass from the behind the net by Sabol, made it a 9-3 game with 23:18 on the clock.
Sabol picked up her second assist at the 20:58 mark after her feed from the left post found junior defender Giovanna Bishop (Portland, Ore./Grant) on the run, who sent a sidearm shot into the left corner.
Mount Holyoke bounced back following a free position tally from Sabol as junior attack Charlotte Wagner (West Chester, Pa./Westtown School) converted her third of the game. Senior midfielder and captain Julia Bell (Longmeadow, Mass./Wilbraham & Monson) earned the helper after she won the draw control, carried it into the zone and sent a lazer pass to Wagner who fired it high and in.
Wheaton would get one back on the free position, but Wagner struck once again for MHC, this time off a nice pass inside the circle from first year midfielder Haley Subocz (Northampton, Mass./Northampton) to make it 12-5 with 15:21 remaining. The visitors counted once again as Tewksbury found Bishop from close range nearing the ten minute mark.
With 10:05 to play, Wagner edged the Lyons closer after winning the draw control and sprinting into the zone for a high shot under the crossbar, but a free position tally from Sabol, followed by a point blank shot from junior midfielder Hannah Gasperoni (Hampton, N.H./Winnacunnet) pushed the advantage back to 15-6 with 8:50 remaining.
Bell was able to add another tally after clearing the ball and shooting it through three surrounding defenders, but Wheaton saw Sabol record her team-leading fourth of the contest to close out the scoring with less than two minutes to play.
Sabol led a Wheaton charge with four tallies and two assists. She also added a game-best nine shots with four ground balls, a game-high five draw control wins and a caused turnover. Tewksbury added three goals and two assists in addition to a game-high five ground balls and five caused turnovers, while senior midfielder Madison Cohen (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) and Bishop each had two tallies. In goal, sophomore Molly Whitten (Bethesda, Md./Dublin School) surrendered seven goals and was forced to make just one save over 60 minutes.
The homestanding Lyons were paced by Wagner's game-high five goals. Bell added a goal and a game-best three assists. Sophomore midfielder/defender Julia Lankin (West Hartford, Conn./Conard) added four draw controls, while junior defender and captain Taylor Hough (Rutland, Vt./Rutland) posted a two caused turnovers. Junior goalie Isa Rodriguez (Columbus, Ohio/Westerville School) shouldered the loss, recording 12 saves with 16 goals allowed in 60 minutes.
For the game, Wheaton owned a 38-9 shot advantage, also owning a 27-16 margin in ground balls. The visitors also had a 16-8 edge in draw controls, going a perfect 16-16 on the clear and 7-of-9 on free position attempts. Mount Holyoke posted a 16-25 margin on the clear, going a perfect 2-of-2 on the free position.
Both teams return to NEWMAC action on Saturday as Mount Holyoke travels to Springfield for a 1pm game against the Pride. Wheaton will head to Babson for a 2pm game with the Beavers.
