NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College women's lacrosse team defeated Babson College, 15-11, in the  New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon at Nordin Field.

Junior Jenna Tewksbury (Concord, N.H./Concord) and classmate Brooke Sabol (Landgrove, Vt./Burr & Burton Academy) both registered hat tricks for the Blue and White. Tewksbury now has scored three or more goals in five of the last six games accounting for a total of 17 markers, while Sabol has potted at least three goals nine times this spring. First-year Katie Peters (Medway, Mass.) and junior Madison Cohen (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) both potted two goals, while five other Lyons found the back of the cage once this afternoon.

Babson's offense was led by junior Kayla Farina (Newton, Mass./Newton North), who scored four times for the Beavers, while sophomore Francesca Giovanucci (Easton, Mass./Southfield School) netted three markers. Junior McKenzie Tucci (Winchester, Mass./Winchester) and senior Rachel Secrist (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) accounted for the remainder the Beavers' offense with two goals apiece.

Farina opened the scoring 7:22 into the first half on a free position shot that gave Babson the early 1-0 advantage. Peters and Bush answered with back-to-back free position goals of their own for a 2-1 lead at the 21:06 mark and 17:20 left on the clock, respectively. Wheaton failed to relinquish the lead for the remainder of the contest, outscoring Babson, 13-10 to hold on for the eventual 15-11 victory.

Both teams traded goals through the middle portion of the first half as Giovanucci and Secrist tallied goals for the visitors and Cohen scored on a feed from Tewksbury as the score stayed close at 4-3 with 10:37 left on the clock. Wheaton went on a 3-0 spurt to close action in the opening stanza as Tewksbury Sabol and Cohen all scored unassisted goals the extended the Lyons' lead to 7-3 at the break.

Up 10-5 after Sabol potted her third goal of the contest with 24:11 left to play, Babson pulled within its closes margin of the second half - two goals (10-8) on a 3-0 run. First-year Charlotte O'Halloran (Middletown, R.I./St. George's School) fed the ball to Farina at the 23:47 mark that began the push, while Tucci and Secrist tallied unassisted markers, which made the score 10-8.

Wheaton went on to score the game's final five of eight goals, highlighted by a pair of goals via Tewksbury and single markers by Peters, sophomore Angela Mallis (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) and first-year Megan Hemmerlein (Contoocook, N.H./Hopkinton) on back-to-back free position goals.

The Lyons' defense allowed two shots and forced two turnovers over the final 9:03 of the contest as the Blue and White claimed the eventual 15-11 quarterfinal victory.

Wheaton senior goalkeeper Katy Ananian (Belmont, Mass./Belmont) improved to 10-6 this spring with seven saves in net, while in the other crease, sophomore Stevie Burger (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) stopped 12 shots for the Beavers.

Defensively, Sabol won five a team-high draw controls and scooped up a game-high four ground balls for the Blue and White, while Babson first-year Julia Harrigan (Portsmouth, R.I./Portsmouth) picked up ten of the Beavers' 17 draw controls.

The Lyons held a 21-12 advantage in ground balls, went 14-for-17 on clearing attempts and 4-for-13 on free position attempts, while the Beavers went 12-for-17 in transition and controlled 17 of 28 draws.

Wheaton (10-7) travels to first-seeded Springfield (14-2) on Saturday, May 2 for a NEWMAC semifinal matchup at 12 p.m., while Babson concludes its season at 5-11 overall.

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