Field Hockey Blanked by Wheaton College, 1-0

Box Score

NORTON, Mass. -- Wheaton College junior Andrea Bagley (Foxboro, MA) notched her first career shutout, against her former team, while sophomore Margaux Bolte's (Belmont, MA) tally stood up as the game-winner during the Lyons' 1-0 victory over Bridgewater State College on Tuesday at Clark Field.
 
Bagley, who appeared in four games for the Bears as a freshman, made seven saves in pushing the Lyons to 4-2. The visitors fell to 1-3 on the season.
 
Bridgewater State immediately seized momentum, tallying a pair of penalty corners during the opening two minutes of play, but an apparent Bear goal was negated after the shot was deemed too high. Later in the stanza, Wheaton senior Alisa Ardito (Branford, CT) carried up the right flank and crossed into the circle to Bolte, who went five hole for her first marker of the season. The helper was the 27th of Ardito's career, pushing her into first place in program history.
 
The Bears, who narrowly edge the Lyons, 4-3 in penalty corners during the first half, held a 12-0 advantage in the second period and found themselves with a golden opportunity in the 48th minute after being awarded a penalty stroke. However, the Bridgewater State player pushed her shot wide left of the cage. With 8:33 remaining, another Bear attempt sailed wide left, and the visitors ran consecutive corners with nearly eight minutes remaining but did not try a shot.
 
During the final 3:20 of regulation, Bridgewater State tallied six penalty corners, including two with no time left on the clock, and fired four shots, but Bagley made two critical saves while the other two were sent wide of the keeper, with one hitting the right post.
 
The visitors finished with advantages of 13-10 in shots and 16-3 in corners, while junior Chelsea Bracchi (Pembroke, MA) suffered the loss after yielding the first-half goal without making any saves. Sophomore Katie Weber (Arlington, MA) came on during the second stanza to turn aside three shots.
 
Having completed a three-game homestand, Wheaton hits the road for the next six contests, beginning with a two-day trip to New York this weekend. The Lyons kick things off by opposing Schenectady-based Union College on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

Bridgewater wraps up a six-game road trip to open the season when they travel to Endicott College on Thursday and Eastern Connecticut State University on Saturday.