BABSON PARK, Mass. - The third-seeded Wheaton College men's lacrosse team won't compete for a Pilgrim League championship for the first time in four years, as the Lyons saw their season close following an 18-9 loss at second seed Babson College in Wednesday night's semifinal round at MacDowell Field.

Wheaton finished its year with a 3-11 record, while the Beavers, who improved to 10-7, will travel to top seed Springfield College on Saturday to play for the league title.

Eight different Lyons cracked the scoring column, with senior Chris Landers (Manchester, Mass./Proctor Academy) accounting for two goals and an assist.  Junior Billy McNamara (Mansfield, Mass./Northfield Mount Hermon School) scored once while contributing a game-high five helpers, giving him 40 assists for the season, which is one short of the program's all-time mark.

Junior Charlie Willauer (Duxbury, Mass./Proctor Academy) recorded a goal and an assist, while seniors Bobby Barry (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury), Corey Best (Brentwood, Tenn./Ravenwood) and Ben Cederberg (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) each found the back of the net once in their final game.  Freshman Jesse O'Neil (Charlestown, Mass./Boston Latin School) made 12 saves in the loss.

Babson senior Armand Wilson (Fairfield, Conn./Avon Old Farms School) led all scorers with four goals, sophomore Alex Patinkin (Providence, R.I./Providence Country Day School) added a marker and three assists, while sophomore James Whalen (Westwood, Mass./Pomfret School) was credited with six stops during three quarters of action.

After the Beavers and Lyons traded the game's first five goals, Wilson's marker to close the opening quarter made the score 4-2 in Babson's favor.  After junior Mike Harrington (Sturbridge, Mass./Bancroft School) brought Wheaton within one to start the second, the hosts went on a period-ending 6-0 run over the final 7:39 for a 10-3 halftime advantage.

The Lyons attempted to get back in the game with three of the third quarter's first five goals, pulling within 12-6 with 8:09 to play before the Beavers answered with two straight markers for a comfortable eight-goal advantage at 5:13.  With Wheaton trailing 16-7 early in the fourth, Best converted a McNamara feed with 5:27 left and Landers tallied a man-up goal 1:53 after that to complete the Lyon scoring.

Cederberg and Landers finish their careers as two of the most prolific scorers in program history.  Cederberg's 120 goals, 81 assists and 201 points rank among the top five in school annals, while Landers amassed 128 goals, 53 assists and 181 points, which are also among the program's best.