NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team rallied to score five of the six final goals of the game, but it wasn't enough as visiting No. 18/20 Babson College came away with a 16-5 victory this evening in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference contest at Nordin Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons fall to 8-7 overall and 5-3 in league play, while the Beavers, who have won 11 of their last 12 games and are ranked 18th in the most recent Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association/Inside Lacrosse Poll and 20th in this week's USA Lacrosse Magazine survey, improve to 12-2 overall and a perfect 8-0 in league play, while t
Babson out-shot Wheaton, 29-17, including a dominant 18-3 in the opening half, in addition to holding a 31-16 advantage in ground balls. The Beavers held a 13-11 margin on the draw, while the Lyons were nearly flawless in transition, converting 15 of 16 clears.
Senior midfielder Avonlea LeBeau (North Branford, Conn.) netted a pair of goals to go with a game-high six draw controls and three ground balls for Wheaton. Sophomore attackers Jessica Chamberlin (Bow, N.Y.) and Riley Kilbourn (Madison, Conn.) and first year attacker Georgia Qua (Suffield, Conn.) all tallied a goal for the Lyons. Chamberlin added four draw controls. Sophomore defender Kayleigh York (Scarborough, Maine) helped lead the defense with two ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers. Sophomore starting goalie Katie Geis (Duxbury, Mass.) denied one of six shots in 19:48 of action, while first year goalie Jenna Langan (Lincoln, R.I.) turned back five of 11 shots in 25:12 and first year Makenna Gilman (Middletown, R.I.) stopped one of six shots in a quarter of play.
Junior attacker Amelia Novitch (Dover, Mass.) tallied six points, including four goals to lead Babson. She added a ground ball and a draw control to her night, while junior attacker Kathryn Blake (Medfield, Mass.) racked up five points on three goals and a pair of assists to go with a pair of ground balls. Graduate student attacker Lily Ives (Chappaqua, N.Y.) netted a trio of markers and added a ground ball. Graduate student defender Anna Costello (Milton, Mass.) paced the defense with three caused turnovers and three ground balls. Junior starting goalie Kathleen Murphy (Scarborough, Maine) stopped both shots that she faced in the first half, before yielding to first year keeper Morgan McGahan (Ho Ho Kus, N.J.), who stopped two of five shots in the third quarter. First year netminder Valentina Erigoyen (Miami, Fla.) turned away one of four shots in the final period of play.
The Beavers' defense held Wheaton without a goal for the first 39:23 of play, while the offense scored 15 unanswered goals, including all 13 of the first half's markers.
Blake found the back of the net just 48 seconds into the contest for the first of three Babson markers within the first five minutes of action, including a pair of scores from Novitch.
The Beavers finished the opening quarter with an 8-0 cushion, fueled by four goals from Novitch and a pair of scores from Blake.
Ives scored a pair of goals to lead a 5-0 second quarter run to increase the visitors' margin to 13-0 at the intermission. Senior attacker Nicole Darveau (Sudbury, Mass.) and junior attacker Michaela Downer (North Andover, Mass.) each notched a goal during the period to record their respective 20th goals of the year to become the sixth and seventh players to tally at least 20 goals on the season for Babson.
Junior midfielder Jessica Evans (Southbury, Conn.) and Darveau each scored a goal to open the third quarter and give the Beavers a 15-0 lead with nine minutes left in the period.
Chamberlin put the Lyons on the board when she converted a feed from senior attacker Abigail Mountain (Niantic, Conn.) with 5:37 remaining in the quarter. Wheaton closed out the game, out-scoring Babson, 5-1, in the final 20:37.
LeBeau followed with a pair of goals to give her a team-leading 45 on the season and cut the deficit to 15-3. Kilbourn scored the Lyons' fourth straight marker at the 6:51 mark of the fourth quarter on an assist from first year attacker Mieke Buterbaugh (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) to pull Wheaton within 15-4.
Junior attacker Solana Fahey (North Andover, Mass.) scored the final goal of the evening for the Beavers to give them a 16-4 advantage with 2:33 to play, before Qua found the back of the net for the Lyons with just 27 ticks left on the fourth quarter clock to give Wheaton its fifth goal.
Babson returns to play on April 20 when it heads to Springfield, Mass. to play NEWMAC foe Springfield College at 4:00 p.m., while Wheaton also plays at 4:00 p.m. on April 20, hosting United States Coast Guard Academy on Senior Day at Nordin Field.
