Babson Thwarts Late Blue Lacrosse Comeback

BABSON PARK, Mass. – The Babson College women's lacrosse team completed its fifth regular season conference sweep in the last six seasons on Saturday, as the Beavers held off visiting Wellesley College, 13-11, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) tilt at MacDowell Field.

With its 11^th straight win, Babson ends the regular season with a record of 12-2 overall and 6-0 in league play. As the NEWMAC Tournament's top seed, the Beavers will received a opening-round bye and will host the Semifinals and Finals this Saturday and Sunday. Official matchups and start times will be announced by the conference office later tonight.

With the loss, Wellesley wraps up the regular season with a record of 5-10 overall and 3-3 in NEWMAC play. The Blue have also secured a spot in this week's conference tourney and as the fourth seed will host fifth-seeded Smith in the First Round on Wednesday at a time to be announced later today.

Babson sophomore Misha Beatty scored a game-high five goals in Saturday's contest, while first-year Rachel Secrist poured in a career-high four goals in the winning effort. Junior Jameson Spang chipped in with two goals and seven draw controls, and sophomore goalie Julie Baharestani finished with five saves and three groundballs.

Playing in their final regular season home game for the Beavers, seniors Trisha Babson, Bridget McCurdy, Erin Daley, and Taylor Wailes celebrated Senior Day with stellar performances. McCurdy finished a tremendous all-around effort with one goal, four groundballs, and three draw controls, Trisha Babson recorded a game-high three assists, Daley dished out an assist to go with three groundballs, one draw, and three caused turnovers, and Wailes chipped in with one caused turnover. 

Wellesley was paced by first-year Claire Canty, who recorded three goals and two assists for five points, junior Meagan Fuchs, who added three goals, and first-year Nathalie Gruet, who handed out three assists to go with four groundballs and four draw controls. Senior Kayla Bolton  chipped in with a team-high three caused turnovers for the Blue, while sophomore goalkeeper Tya Logan posted nine saves and four groundballs in net.

In another classic matchup between cross-town rivals, Babson surged out to a 5-2 lead in the first 11 minutes of action. Beatty and Secrist each struck twice during the run, while McCurdy capped it with a score at 19:08. Wellesley then rallied with three straight goals to tie the contest at 5-5, with Gruet assisting Canty and Fuchs on back-to-back strikes and sophomore Brit Mscicz tacking on the equalizer at 13:18.

The Beavers dominated the remainder of the first half, finishing with a 5-1 run to take a 10-6 lead into the break. Secrist fueled the run with her third and four goals of the afternoon, while Beatty, Spang, and junior Emma Locke also found the back of the net.

Wellesley came storming back in the second half, scoring four unanswered goals to pull even once again. Senior Meredith Roy sparked the outburst with a goal from Canty at 24:01, junior Allison Robbins made it a two-goal game at 21:24, Canty added an unassisted tally at 15:52, and Roy struck again to cap the run at 13:30.

After Beatty finally halted the run with her fourth goal of the day for Babson at 11:20, the Blue tied the score at 11-11 when Canty converted a Robbins feed at 11:10. Spang then put the Beavers ahead to stay, scoring off a beautiful pass from Trisha Babson on the left side at 10:13, and Beatty added her fifth goal of the game to give the hosts a 13-11 advantage with 8:35 left in the contest.

Wellesley would have two great scoring chances over the next three minutes, but Baharestani came up with two magnificent saves to preserve the lead. With 8:15 remaining, she made a huge stop near the left post on a shot by Canty after the Wellesley rookie got an open look off a breakaway feed from Roy. The sophomore keeper then went low to deny another point-blank look from Canty just a yard outside the crease at 5:30 – her fifth and final save of the afternoon.

The Blue would get the ball back with five minutes remaining on a Gruet caused turnover, but the visitors gave it up a minute later and the Beavers successfully maintained possession for the final four minutes of play to clinch the 13-11 victory.