SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - Senior midfielder Katie Peters tallied a game-high five goals with two assist to lead the Wheaton College lacrosse team to an 18-9 win over Mount Holyoke College in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opener for both teams. With the victory, the Lyons of Wheaton move to 3-4 on the season, while the MHC Lyons are now 1-6 overall.
In addition to Peters (Medway, Mass./Medway), Wheaton saw sophomore attacker Kyra Schwartzman (Kennebunk, Maine/Kennebunk) post a game-best five goals with a helper. Peters also had a game-best four ground balls, a game-high eight draw controls while posting a caused turnover. Junior attack Maddy Lahm (Lyme, Conn./The Williams School) added four goals and an assist with six draw control wins, a game-high four ground balls and a caused turnover, while first year attack Maggie Dymes (Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y./Croton-Harmon) had a pair of goals.
For Mount Holyoke, senior captain Leila Kouakou (Leeds, Mass./Northampton) recorded three goals with a ground ball and three draw controls. Classmate and midfielder Kaitlin Braz (Tolland, Conn./East Catholic) added two goals with an assist along with three ground balls and a game-high two caused turnovers, while junior attack Deyscha Smith (Boston, Mass./Academy of the Pacific Rim) had two tallies with three ground balls. Senior captain and midfielder Julia Lankin (West Hartford, Conn./Conard) chipped in with a ground ball, a team-high five draw control wins and a caused turnover.
In goal, senior captain Molly Witten (Bethesda, Md./Dublin School) earned the victory, posting three saves over 39:27 played. She was relieved by first year Jena Casman (Woodbridge, Conn./Amity), who made one stop over 20:33. For Mount Holyoke, senior Clarissa Leight (Austin, Texas/Liberal Arts & Science Academy) made five saves.
Wheaton held a 9-4 advantage through the opening frame and continued to press into the second stanza as Schwartzman scored off a great feed from first year middie Casey Kaplan (Suffield, Conn./Suffield Academy) just 39 seconds into the frame. MHC countered as sophomore midfielder Reina Torrez-Miner (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) powered a shot in, but Wheaton regained the mometum with five straight goals, including three more from Schwartzman.
The homestanding Lyons pulled back into the contest at the 20:33 mark as a tally from Braz was quickly followed by a score from Kouakou, who converted a nice pass from junior captain Mazzie Meotti (South Glastonbury, Conn./Watkinson School) to make it 15-7 with 19:53 to play. MHC tacked on another score from Braz under the ten minute mark, and Smith scored her second of the period to close the gap to 16-9, but Wheaton proved to much down the stretch, adding a pair of goals over the final 4:42.
Wheaton owned a 28-22 advantage in shots, also owning a 24-21 margin in ground balls. The visiting Lyons also posted a 17-11 clip in draw controls, also going 14-17 on the clear, while MHC was 11-16.
Mount Holyoke returns to action next Saturday when it travels to MIT for a 1pm contest. Wheaton is back on the field on Wednesday, hosting Plymouth State at 7pm.
