NORTON, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's soccer team was defeated by No. 22 Babson College, 5-0, this afternoon in the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference opener on Keefe Field in Norton, Mass.

The Lyons fall to 4-2-1 overall and 0-1 in league play, while the Beavers, who are ranked in the most recent United Soccer Coaches poll, improve to 4-1-1 and 1-0.

Babson held a narrow 14-10 shot advantage, but made the most of its attempts. Despite the visitors' shot margin, Wheaton was unable to take advantage of a 10-4 disparity in corner kicks in its favor.

Graduate student forward Ben Williams (Scarborough, Ontario) tallied five points with a pair of goals and an assist to lead the Beavers. 

Babson cracked the scoring column in the 19th minute with Williams' first tally of the day. He scored both of his goals within a span of 66 seconds to give the visitors a 2-0 lead with 25:38 left in the opening half. 

Graduate student midfielder Ryan Goss (Glastonbury, Conn.) served the ball into the box, where Williams got up in the air for a header that went over the Lyons' keeper for the first marker of the day. Williams second goal came when sophomore forward Louis Gazo (Colchester, Vt.) sent a cross through traffic into the box, where Williams took the ball and beat the keeper out of the goal with a shot to the right post for his fourth goal of the year.

The Lyons looked to cut the deficit in half when sophomore forward Alasdair Ferrier (Concord, N.H.) fired a shot ticketed for the inside of the far left post, but a Babson defender was able to put a foot on it to keep it out of the net and preserve the shutout.

Senior forward Samuel Smith (Farmington, Maine) gave the Beavers a 3-0 lead just before the end of the first half with the first of two tallies on the afternoon. Junior forward Liam Rhatigan (Holderness, N.H.) led Smith into the box with a cross from the left side that the forward deposited into the far right post with 2:27 left in the half.

Babson scored its fourth goal in the 51st minute when Williams slipped a cross from the right side of the box in front of the net, where Gazo put a foot on it for his second marker of the season at 50:27. 

The Beavers took advantage of another corner kick in the 65th minute to put their fifth and final goal on the board. Goss sent the kick on the ground to Rhatigan, who flicked the ball off his back foot to Smith, who scored in front for his third goal of the season.

Sophomore keeper Walker White (Coral Gables, Fla.) earned the victory for Babson, stopping all three shots he faced in 67:51 of play, before yielding to first year Derek Polanco (Verona, N.J.), who made one save in the final 22:09. Wheaton senior goalie Cam Millington (Fairfield, Conn.) turned away four shots on the day.

The Lyons will be in action again on Wednesday, September 17 when they host Brandeis University at 4:30 p.m. on Keefe Field, while the Beavers host Amherst College on September 20 at 4:00 p.m.