Gulls Drop Home Opener, 13-7, To Visiting Wheaton Lyons

BEVERLY, Mass. ­– The Endicott women's lacrosse team dropped a 13-7 decision versus visiting Wheaton College Saturday afternoon in the Gulls' home opener at Hempstead Stadium in non-conference action.

The Lyons raced out to a quick 3-0 lead, thanks in part to two free position goals from senior attack Jenna Tewksbury (Concord, N.H.).

Freshman midfielder Jaime Balboni (Billerica, Mass.) recorded her first of two goals on the day with 20:36 remaining in the first half on a feed from sophomore attack Jess Glenn (Underhill, Vt.) who notched her first of a career-high two assists in the effort.

The Lyons led 9-5 at the half as the Gulls turned the ball over 12 times in the first thirty minutes compared to just seven for the guests.

After trading goals to begin the second stanza, Endicott got to within a three-goal deficit, down 10-7, midway through the second half (18:00) on freshman defender Molly McMahon's (Hanover, Mass.) first career goal, but then Wheaton had three unanswered scores to end the game as the Lyons out-shot the Gulls, 33-15 on the afternoon.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Junior goalie Maura Grady (Marblehead, Mass.) made 15 saves in the defeat (0-2) and also grabbed a game-high seven groundballs.
• Freshman midfielder Ali Campbell (Lakeville, Mass.) won a game-high four draw controls.
• Junior midfielder Emily Whitney (Rye, N.H.) and Balboni each scored two goals for the Gulls.
• Glenn tallied a career-high two assists, which was also a team-high and tied for game-high with Wheaton's junior midfielder Angela Mallis (Falmouth, Mass.).
• Endicott is 2-5 all-time against Wheaton and 1-2 at home dating back prior to the 2005 season.
• Endicott had won two consecutive meetings against Wheaton coming into today's game, including a thrilling 12-11 double-overtime victory in Norton, Mass. on March 14, 2015 last season.

FOR THE FOES

• Sophomore midfielder Katie Peters (Medway, Mass.) led the way for the Lyons as she recorded a hat trick.
• Seniorattack Brooke Sabol (Landgrove, Vt.) and senior attack Allie Bush (Kennebunk, Maine) both recorded two goals for the Lyons along with Tewksbury. 
• Freshman midfielder Maddy Lahm (Lyme, Conn.) and junior defender Lydia Regan (Medford, Mass.) each picked up a team-high five groundballs.
• Sophomore goalie Molly Witten (Bethesda, Md.) registered four saves as she faced 11 shots on goal and earned her second win of the season (2-0).

NOTES

• Endicott is 12-4 in home openers since the 2001 season, having won nine consecutive from 2004 to 2012 and two in a row before today's loss.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (0-2) returns to play on Wednesday, March 9 at 5:00 p.m. as the Gulls host Wellesley College in non-conference action. Wheaton (2-0) welcomes Trinity (Conn.) on Sunday, March 6 at 3:00 p.m. in the Lyons' home opener. 

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