Wellesley Lacrosse Falls to Babson, 19-6, To Open NEWMAC Season

BABSON PARK, Mass-- Wellesley College lacrosse opened up New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Saturday afternoon with a 19-6 setback against Babson at MacDowell Field. Babson improves to 4-4 on the season and 1-0 in the NEWMAC. Wellesley drops to 0-6 in their season and open up conference play at 0-1.

Wellesley saw five different goal scorers in the setback. Junior Dacia Persky (Las Vegas, Nev.) led all of Wellesley's goal scorers with two goals and an assist. Classmate Ellie Chalphin (Philadelphia, Pa.), sophomore Anna Eichhorn (Westport, Conn.), and first years Carson Dennis (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.) and Louise Conaty (Wilmington, Del.) all recorded one goal each in the contest.

Babson's balanced attack was led by junior Taylor Thorbahn (Duxbury, Mass.) who tallied five goals and dished out one assist. Senior Julia Harrigan (Portsmouth, R.I.) scored four goals, added an assist, and recorded a game-high 11 draw controls. First year Georgia Salvatore (Westwood, Mass.) pitched in with a hat trick and an assist. First year Juliana McGuire (Sparta, N.J.) and junior Riley Buonagurio (Duxbury, Mass.) both found the back of the net with two goals each.

Salvatore scored the first goal of the game for Babson at 27:29. Conaty answered for the Blue putting them on the board 1-1 at 24:18. Thorbahn scored at 23:08 to spark a four goal run for the Beavers to extend the lead 5-1. Chalpin and Eichhorn scored at 9:08 and 7:19 for Wellesley to cut the deficit 6-3, but Babson scored two more to take the 8-3 lead heading into halftime.

Harrigan and McGuire scored for Babson to open the second half at 27:58 and 27:11 and extend their lead to 10-3. Wellesley answered when Persky and Dennis scored back-to-back goals to make the score 10-5. Salvatore scored at 23:44 to spark an eight goal run, to give Babson an 18-5 cushion. Persky scored her second of the day at 5:59 but junior Olivia Martino (Berlin, Conn.) sealed the deal for the Beavers as she netted the last goal of the game with 2:36 remaining to secure the 19-6 victory. Babson held the advantage in shots, 35-9, and draw controls, 22-5, but Wellesley held the advantage in ground balls, 15-12.

Wellesley junior goalkeeper Chloe Tucker (San Ramon, Calif.) recorded nine saves and is now 0-6 on her season. Babson first year goalkeeper Cricket Fligor (Weston, Mass.) recorded three saves, while sophomore goalkeeper Olivia Phelan (Wilton, Conn.) improved to 3-2 on the season after playing the first 30 mins of the game.

Wellesley will play again on Sunday, March 24, at home against Colby at 12:00 PM. Babson will return to action on Saturday, March 31, when they travel to Springfield for a 1:00 PM game.