Wellesley Lacrosse Outlasts Babson, 10-9

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Chesley Hooker's goal with 6:14 left to play proved to be the game-winner as Wellesley College edged visting Babson College, 10-9, in NEWMAC women's lacrosse action on Tuesday.

Hooker broke open a 9-9 game, taking a pass from Meghan Peterson in front of the goal, and beating the Babson keeper high for the score. The win improves Wellesley to 6-8 overall, 3-3 in conference play, while Babson dips to 5-9, 4-2 in the NEWMAC.

In a closely played game, neither team was able to take more than a two-goal lead the entire 60 minutes. Babson finished with edges in shots (25-22) and draw controls (12-10), but Wellesley held advantages in ground balls (11-9) and turnovers (10-12). Wellesley keeper Wendy Nettleton had a game-high eight saves, including stopping Babson's final shot attempt of the game.

Wellesley struck first on a Claire Canty free position shot, but Babson answered with unassisted scores from Misha Beatty and Rachel Secrist to take a 2-1 lead with 10 minutes elapsed. The Blue followed with a surge of their own, as tallies from Brit Mscisz and Meghan Peterson made it 3-2 Wellesley with 17:37 on the clock.

Another unassisted strike from Babson's Beatty tied the game at 3-3 with 16:19 to play in the half, but Wellesley's Canty and Mary Lemay scored twice in three minutes to give the Blue a 5-3 edge with just 33 seconds remaining in the stanza.

Babson's Secrist won the draw after the Wellesley goal and needed less than 13 seconds to cut the Blue advantage to one goal. The Beavers grabbed the ensuing draw, but were unable to duplicate Secrist's quick strike, sending the game into the break with Wellesley leading 5-4.

The visitors needed just over five minutes of play to tie the game and take the lead early in the second half, as goals from Beatty and MckEnzie Tucci gave Babson a 6-5 edge with 24:55 to play.

The teams then traded goals in a 36-second span, as Canty scored unassisted for the Blue, while Secrist converted a free position, making it 7-6 Babson with just under 20 minutes remaining. Wellesley seemingly grabbed momentum following the Beaver strike, as Meghan Peterson and Hooker each scored to make it 8-7 Blue.

Babson, however, won the following draw, and Kiley Fischer used a nice spin move in front of the goal to beat her defender and tie the game at 8-8. The teams again traded goals with Mscisz scoring for the Blue at 9:53, and Secrist tallying for Babson at 8:43, setting the score to 9-9 with 8:43 to play.

The Beavers won the next draw, but Nettleton came up big for Wellesley, stopping a Babson shot attempt and setting up Hooker's 55th-minute goal. Following the score, Wellesley was awarded the draw because of a foul, and the Blue started playing keep-away with the one-goal lead.

Wellesley was able to run nearly two minutes off the clock before Babson's Secrist broke through and caused a turnover to give the Beavers a chance to tie it with just under two minutes to play. Babson's first attempt at the goal went wide, but a Blue foul gave the Beavers a free-position attempt with 32 seconds to play. Wellesley's Nettleton again came up with the save and the Blue's Caitlin Crawford hustled for the ground ball, giving the hosts possession.

Babson was able to knock the ball loose with around 10 seconds to play in the game, but Wellesley regained possession to seal the 10-9 victory.

Wellesley's Canty recorded five points on three goals and two assists, while pulling down a game-high six draw controls. Meghan Peterson added three points (two goals, one assist) to go along with four draw controls. Mscisz and Hooker each scored twice for the Blue, while Nikki Sharkin added a helper to round out the offense. Defensively, Kaitlyn Kirkaldy had a pair of caused turnovers, while Crawford scooped a team-high three ground balls. Nettleton's eight saves gave her a victory number five this season.

Secrist lead Babson with for goals and an assist, while adding team-highs of five draw controls, three caused turnovers and three ground balls. Beatty also had a solid game, scoring three times, while adding a pair of draws. Tucci and Fischer accounted for the remaining two goals, while Tucci added a pair of draw controls and Allison Windson added three ground balls. In goal for the Beavers, Julie Baharestani recorded five saves.

Today's Wellesley win marked the first for the Blue against Babson since the 2006 season. The Beavers have won the previous 11 meetings between the teams.

Both teams will wrap up the NEWMAC regular season on Saturday. Babson hosts Emerson at 1:00pm, while Wellesley heads to Springfield for a 3:00pm clash.