Pair of late goals helps Lyons seal NEWMAC-opening shutout at WPI

September 22, 2007

WORCESTER, MA- The Wheaton College field hockey team used a pair of insurance goals in the final eight minutes of regulation Saturday afternoon to help aid a 3-0 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) victory at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) at Alumni Field.

Both teams opened conference play today, as the Lyons improved to 6-3 overall. The Engineers dropped their fifth straight to fall to 4-5.

Junior Alisa Ardito (Branford, CT/Branford) earned the game-winning goal in the 18th minute and moved into a tie for sixth on the program's all-time points list, while senior Sara Dimick's (Cumberland, ME/Greely) two assists on the day pushed her into a tie for second for career assists.

Wheaton nearly jumped out in front in the early minutes of the opening half, but two defensive saves by the Engineers on the Lyons' first two shots kept Wheaton off the board. Ardito got the visitors on the scoreboard 17:28 in when she knocked home a feed from freshman Julia Atwood (Concord, MA/Brooks School). Holding advantages of 8-0 in shots and 6-0 in penalty corners through the first 35 minutes, the Blue and White took a 1-0 edge into the break.

The Lyons created some separation in the second half by tallying a pair of goals 1:14 apart in the 63rd and 64th minutes. With assists coming off the stick of Dimick, freshman Jessica Strock (Centerville, MA/Barnstable) found the back of the cage with 7:51 remaining before sophomore Alex Block (Saratoga, CA/Saratoga) closed out the scoring with 6:37 to play.

Wheaton completed play with an 18-3 shot advantage while collecting 15 of the game's 16 penalty corners, as freshman goalie Cameron Abel (Windham, NH/Salem) needed just one save to record her second collegiate shutout. WPI senior counterpart Mary Kate Toomey (Worcester, MA/Burncoat) was credited with eight stops, as the Engineers finished with three defensive saves.

With its four-game road trip ending this afternoon, the Lyons head home Wednesday for a non-conference game against Wesleyan University at 4:00 p.m.

SCORING: 1st 2nd Final
Wheaton (6-3, 1-0) 1 2 3
WPI (4-5, 0-1) 0 0 0

1st Half: WC- Alisa Ardito (Julia Atwood) 17:28

2nd Half: WC- Jessica Strock (Sara Dimick) 62:09, Alex Block (Dimick) 63:23

Goalie Saves: WC- Cameron Abel 1; WPI- Mary Kate Toomey 8

Shots: WC- 18; WPI- 3

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