Box Score BRISTOL, R.I. - The Roger Williams University Field Hockey team fell to Wheaton College 6-2 in its 2016 season opener. An early surge by the Lyons put RWU in a deficit that the team was unable to overcome.
 
The Lyons struck first in the fifth minute, when Amelia Gage (Lebanon, N.H.) put in a loose ball off of a deflected shot. Wheaton used a penalty corner to set up an opportunity for Michelle Trainor (Amesbury, Mass.), but her shot bounced off a Hawk defender. Gage would gain possession and convert for the first score of the game.
 
Four minutes later, Katie Peters (Medway, Mass.) made her way through the Hawk defense, positioning herself on the left side of the arc and shooting the ball into the right corner to put Wheaton on top by two.
 
The Lyons continued to roll in the 14^th minute, with Gage serving up a short pass to Kelsey Buckley (Gilford, N.H.). Buckley would take the pass and tap in a shot to the right corner give the Lyons a 3-0 advantage.
 
The Hawks would manage to get on the board in the 17^th minute, as a foul in the arc took away what appeared to be the Hawks first goal of the game. However, the offense would lead to a penalty stroke for Stephanie Yaeger (Gansevoort, N.Y.). She would step up and knock in the first goal of the 2016 season for Roger Williams.
 
However, Wheaton got the goal back in the 24^th minute after Trainor knocked in a goal off of a penalty corner by Buckley. The Lyons would take a 3-1 advantage into halftime.
 
The second half saw the Lyons increase their lead back to three in the 47^th minute. Gage clinched her second goal of the game on a pass from Trainor to make it a 4-1 game.
 
Lilian McNeil (Marshfield, Mass.) helped bring the Hawks closer in the 51^st minute, tapping in a loose ball a few feet in front of the goal to bring the deficit back to three. Yet Wheaton outlasted RWU with one more score. Salena Helmreich (Sanford, Maine) found Buckley wide open on the left side of the goal for an easy score and the team's sixth goal of the game.
 
Riley Thompson (Fairfield, Conn.) picked up the win for Wheaton, making five saves on the night. Mya Lunn (Marion, Mass.) also stopped five shots in the loss.
 
Roger Williams (0-1) heads to Johnson & Wales on Thursday, while Wheaton (2-1) travels to Union on Saturday.