NORTON, Mass. – The Union College field hockey team dropped its first game of the 2019 season on Saturday afternoon, falling to Wheaton (Mass.) College by a 5-3 score at Nordin Field.
 
Union outshot the Lyons by an 18-16 margin on the day, but the Dutchwomen were done in by a difficult third quarter in which the visitors were outscored by a 3-0 margin. Senior Charlotte Leyland and juniors Cici Lyne and Katie Talacci scored for Union in a losing effort.
 
The Dutchwomen got on the board first 2:38 into the second quarter, when Lyne scored her first goal of the season off an assist by classmate Laura Wind. Wheaton evened the score less than a minute later, but Talacci put the visitors back ahead with 6:25 remaining before halftime with her team-leading third goal of the season.
 
But the tide turned in the pivotal third quarter, in which Wheaton scored three times. Two of those goals game in the span of 16 seconds midway through the frame, while a penalty stroke goal gave the Lyons a 4-2 lead entering the fourth. Leyland scored with 7:21 left off a pass from sophomore Cristina Boudreau to get Union back within two, but the visitors could get no closer.
 
Junior Mary Beth Rudolf made four saves and allowed four goals in three quarters of action, while classmate Heather Poisson made two saves on three on-target attempts in the fourth frame.
 
Union will return to action next Saturday at Stevens Institute of Technology beginning at 1 p.m.