BABSON PARK, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's lacrosse team was defeated by host and nationally ranked No. 20 Babson College, 16-10, this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at MacDowell Field in Babson Park, Mass.
The Lyons dip to 6-4 overall and 1-2 in league play, while the Beavers, who are ranked at No. 20 by USA Lacrosse and by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association, improve to 7-3 overall and 2-1 in the NEWMAC.
Wheaton held a 4-1 scoring advantage during the first 17 minutes and 32 seconds of regulation, but the Beavers rallied to outscore the Lyons 15-6 during the final 42 minutes and 28 seconds. Babson outnumbered Wheaton 45-32 in total shots (including a 38-25 shot margin during the final three quarters). The hosts were strong on face-offs, as Babson won 18 of 30 face-offs and also led the ground ball advantage 35-29. The Beavers converted on all 22 clear attempts, while the Lyons went 24 of 29 on clears. Both teams committed 16 turnovers each.
Senior midfielder Mike McLaughlin (Stoughton, Mass.) recorded a season-high four points with a hat-trick and one assist to go with with three ground balls and one caused turnover. Junior attacker Emmett Edwards (Sunderland, Vt.) also recorded three goals with two ground balls. Senior midfielder Charlie Racine (Oradell, N.J.) tallied two goals, one assist, one ground ball, and a caused turnover. Sophomore attackman Evan Paturzo (Bellingham, Mass.) added a goal and an assist to go with one ground ball and one caused turnover, while classmate defender Henry Stamatel (Plainville, Mass.) tied a game-high five ground balls with a caused turnover. Junior defender Pason Fielding (Carlisle, Mass.) tied a season-high two caused turnovers and scooped up a pair of ground balls. Senior goalkeeper Connor Almstrom (Cumberland, R.I.) stopped 12 shots, which marked his eighth game with double-digit saves this season.
The Beavers were led by a deep offensive attack with 10 different players who tallied at least one point. Sophomore attacker Sam Sisk (Madison, Conn.) recorded a career-high six points with a personal-best four goals and two assists. Sophomore attacker Seamus Rooney (Bay Shore, N.Y.) scored three goals and scooped up a pair of ground balls, while classmate Camden Matthews (Westford, Mass.) added two goals. Graduate student midfielder Justin Greene (Norwell, Mass.) recorded two goals with one ground ball. Junior face-off specialist Will Reading (Southlake, Texas) won a game-high 13 face-offs and tallied a team-high four ground balls with a caused turnover. Senior defenseman Brendan Maher (Melrose, Mass.) posted a season-high three caused turnovers and had an assist to go along with a ground ball. Senior goalkeeper Alex Fascilla (Huntington, N.Y.) got the start in goal and stopped five shots in the first half. First-year goalie Andrew Almquist (Wakefield, Mass.) played a career-most 30 minutes in goal in the second half and stopped a personal-best seven shots.
The Lyons got off to a strong start with a 2-0 lead with 12:07 on the clock in the first quarter. McLaughlin received a pass from Racine to connect on the first goal 85 seconds into the contest. Junior attacker Charlie Goodrich (Fairfield, Conn.) then added his lone marker of the game to give the Lyons a 2-0 lead with 12:07 in the opening quarter. The Beavers then answered with a goal scored by Rooney with 7:24 in the first period to make the score 2-1. After forcing the Beavers into a turnover, the Lyons capitalized on the final tally of the quarter when McLaughlin scored his second goal of the game to give Wheaton the 3-1 advantage at the end of the opening period.
After an excellent 3-1 start by Wheaton, the Lyons scored the first marker of the second quarter when Edwards added his first tally of the game off a helper by Paturzo to stretch the Wheaton lead to 4-1 with 12:28 remaining in the second quarter. The Beavers then answered with a two-goal scoring run by Matthews and Sisk within the next 119 seconds of play to cut the deficit to 4-3. The Lyons increased their led to a two-goal margin when first-year midfielder Zac DiLauri (Parsippany, N.J.) sent a pass to Patruzo who fired a shot into the back of the net to give Wheaton a 5-3 lead. The Beavers then utilized a three-goal scoring run to give the hosts the first lead at 6-5 with 1:30 before intermission. Racine added his first goal of the match at the end of the first half to even the score 6-6 at halftime.
Similar to the start of the game, the Lyons got out to a quick two-goal scoring run with a tally each by Racine and Edwards to give the Lyons an 8-6 lead 12:22 in the third quarter. The Beavers offense then started to click, as Babson went on a three-goal scoring run with a marker each by Greene, Matthews, and Sisk to give the hosts the 9-8 advantage with 8:53 in the third period. McLaughlin then added his third goal of the game with 7:13 in the quarter to tie the score at 9-9. With 2:21 remaining in the third period, Rooney added the go-ahead tally to give the Beavers a 10-9 lead.
Following a 4-1 run to close out the third quarter for Babson, the Beavers added a quick goal by Sisk 72 seconds into the final period to take an 11-9 lead. Approximately a minute later, the Lyons capitalized on their lone extra-man advantage goal of the game as Edwards scored off an assist by McLaughlin to make the score 11-10. After four separate scoring runs by the hosts throughout the match, Babson ended the game on their largest scoring run of the afternoon with five consecutive goals in the final 10:19 of regulation to give the Beavers the 16-10 victory.
Wheaton returns to action on Saturday, April 5 when it travels to Gaudet Field in Middletown, R.I. to take on Salve Regina University in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at 3:00 p.m., while the Beavers host the University of Massachusetts Boston on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.
