John Risley

Smith Comeback Falls Short Against Wheaton

April 02, 2011

Box Score NORTHAMPTON, Mass.--Wheaton College scored the game's first six goals and the final seven goals to thwart a comeback attempt in a 21-9 victory over Smith College in New England Women's and Men's Athletics Conference (NEWMAC) lacrosse action on Saturday.

With the win, the Lyons snapped a four game losing skid to up their record to 3-5 overall and 1-1 in NEWMAC play. Smith falls to 2-7 overall and 0-2 in the NEWMAC.

Wheaton opened the game with six goals in the first 16 minutes, as Charlotte DeSantis netted three times, and Sydney Ferguson added two more. Eve Whitehouse (North Reading, Mass./Pingree School) got Smith on the board with an unassisted tally with 12:23 to play in the half, and MK Pasini (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Hartley) trimmed the deficit to four just over a minute later. After DeSantis netted her fourth of the game, Alayna Liptak (Northampton, Mass./Northampton) pulled Smith within 7-3 when she slipped home a pass from Lena Sernoff (Portland, Ore./Grant).

The Lyons went back up by seven courtesy of another DeSantis goal and a pair from Hailey Colburn, but Beck Bracken ended the half on a flourish, scoring Smith's final three goals to send the Pioneers into the break down 12-6.

The teams traded goals to open the second half, as Leila Mills' marker for Wheaton was countered by a goal from Alyssa Bobe (Greenfield, Mass./Northfield Mt. Hermon) that saw her sprint three-fourths of the field before scoring, and after Katie Powers scored for Wheaton, Bracken scored on a free position effort to make it 14-8. Sofia Nakhnikian-Weintraub (Eugene, Ore./South Eugene) got in on the act with her ninth goal of the season with 23:36 left in the game, but that was as close as Smith would get. Wheaton held Smith scoreless the rest of the contest, while getting goals from seven different players to close out the half.

DeSantis, Colburn, and Ferguson combined for 14 goals for Wheaton, with DeSantis scoring six times. Bracken finished with four goals for the Pioneers, upping her team-leading total to 25. Meredith Kallfelz made 11 saves in net for Smith, while Marianna Marcellin (seven saves) and Stephanie Hoomis (one save) shared time in the Wheaton net.

Smith will take a break from NEWMAC play with a road trip to New England College on April 7. The game gets underway at 6 p.m. Wheaton will host Gordon College on April 5 at 4:30 p.m.

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