BABSON PARK, Mass.—Junior McKenzie Tucci (Winchester, Mass.) matched her career high with three goals, and finished with a career-best six points as Babson College built a 10-goal halftime lead en route to an 18-9 victory over visiting Mount Holyoke College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's lacrosse action on Saturday afternoon at MacDowell Field.
With the win, Babson is now 2-6 overall and 1-0 in conference play, while Mount Holyoke drops to 4-4 overall and 1-1 in the NEWMAC.
Sophomore Kiley Fischer (Marblehead, Mass.) and first-year Charlotte O'Halloran (Middletown, R.I.) had three goals apiece for the Beavers. Junior Kayla Farina (Newton, Mass.) scored a pair of goals and with three assists, while senior Rachel Secrist (Westford, Mass.) contributed two goals and two assists. First-year Annie Arthur (West Windsor, Vt.) also had a goal and an assist for the Green and White.
Junior Julia Bell (Longmeadow, Mass.) had three goals and three assists for six points to lead the Lyons. Classmate Catherine Ryan (Longmeadow, Mass.) had two goals and two assists, including the 100th assist of her career. She became just the second player in Mount Holyoke history to reach the milestone. Sophomore Katherine Guinee (Topsfield, Mass.) scored twice, while junior Nicole Perkins (Mashpee, Mass.) led all players with four groundballs.
The Beavers were dominant in the first half, winning 9-of-12 draw controls and scoring 10 times over the final 17:08 to take a 10-goal lead into the break. Leading 2-0 just shy of the midway point of the stanza, Fischer and O'Halloran struck for back-to-back goals 28 seconds apart to give Babson a 4-0 lead with 14:42 to go until halftime. Sophomore Francesca Giovanucci (Easton, Mass.) pushed the lead to five with a goal at the 12:33 mark, and Farina buried a free-position chance to make it 6-0 with 10:56 left in the period.
O'Halloran and Tucci notched consecutive goals 54 seconds apart to give the Green and White an 8-0 advantage with 7:33 remaining in the first. Senior Kirsten Kilburn (North Branford, Conn.) got Mount Holyoke on the board with a free-position goal, but the Beavers responded with three late scores, including free-position shots from Farina and Secrist, to take an 11-1 lead into the half.
Tucci scored just 40 seconds into the second half to give Babson its biggest lead of the game at 12-1. The Lyons responded by scoring seven of the game's next nine markers, including a pair of three-goal runs, to cut their deficit to six. Consecutive tallies by Guinee cut the hosts' lead to 12-4 with 21:08 remaining, and Bell and Ryan combined for four of the next five goals, offsetting a free-position score by Beavers' first-year Julia Harrigan (Portsmouth, R.I.), to pull within 14-8 with 9:17 left in the contest.
Babson did not allow Mount Holyoke to get any closer though, ripping off four straight goals of the next 5:06 to put the game away. Secrist went coast-to-coast following a Giovanucci caused turnover, and first-years Mallory Joyce (Harwich, Mass.), Lyndsay Giroux (Westwood, Mass.) and Arthur all notched their first collegiate markers with just over four minutes left in the game.
Babson sophomore goalkeeper Stevie Burger (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) finished with three saves, while Lyons' sophomore Isa Rodriguez (Columbus, Ohio) stopped 16 shots in defeat.
Babson, which held a 40-13 edge in shots, scored a season-high six free-position goals in the win. The Beavers also finished with a 17-14 advantage in groundballs and were 14-of-15 on clear opportunities.
Both teams return to action on Wednesday as Babson travels to Emerson at 6 p.m., while Mount Holyoke visits Wheaton for a 7 p.m. start.
Story courtesy of Babson Athletic Communications.
