SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Ten different players scored to lead Babson College to a 14-6 win over Mount Holyoke College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Saturday afternoon. The Beavers moved to 5-3 overall and 1-0 in conference play, while the Lyons slip to 1-6 with an 0-2 mark in the NEWMAC.
The homestanding Lyons opened the game's scoring and built up a 3-2 lead, including a pair of tallies from senior captain and attack Julia Bell (Longmeadow, Mass./Wilbraham & Monson), but Babson quickly responded with a 6-0 run of its own to break open a close contest.
Sophomore midfielder Annie Arthur (West Windsor, Vt./Woodstock) grabbed the equalizer at 15:45 and then recorded the helper as sophomore attack Charlotte O'Halloran (Middletown, R.I./St. George's School) buried one past MHC goalie Isa Rodriguez (Columbus, Ohio/Westerville School) at 14:59.
Arthur grabbed her second of the contest just seconds later to make it a 6-3 margin with just over 14 minutes to play. Senior attack McKenzie Tucci (Winchester, Mass./Winchester) went on to convert an O'Halloran feed, before Arthur sent a nice pass to sophomore attack Lyndsay Giroux (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) at 2:38.
A tally by senior midfielder Kayla Farina (Newton, Mass./Newton North) sent the visitors into halftime with the 8-3 advantage. The Beavers continued to gain momentum though heading into the second half, opening up the frame with a 5-0 run, including another Farnia goal at 21:48 to make it an 11-3 advantage.
The Lyons battled back with 8:27 remaining as Bell fired a pass to senior captain and attack Catherine Ryan (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow) to make it 13-4. The duo struck again at the 4:28 mark as Bell recorded her game-best third of the contest off a spectacular pass from Ryan.
MHC sophomore Leila Kouakou (Leeds, Mass./Northampton) added an unassisted tally with 3:18 remaining, but a final goal from Babson off the stick of Julia Harrigan (Portsmouth, R.I./Portsmouth) at 1:03 halted the Lyons momentum for the final margin.
For Babson, both Arthur and Harrigan had two goals and two assists on the day. O'Halloran added two goals with an assist, as did Farina. Tucci also posted a goal with two assists, while junior attack Emily Bresnahan (Wenham, Mass./St. Paul's School) had a goal and a helper. In the cage, junior Stevie Burger (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) made three stops in the win.
Mount Holyoke saw Bell post three goals and two assists with four ground balls, four draw controls and a game-best four caused turnovers, while Ryan had a tally and two helpers. Kouakou also had a goal and an assist. In goal, Rodriguez made 10 stops. Other solid efforts for the Lyons included a game-high six draw control effort from sophomore Julia Lankin (West Hartford, Conn./Conard), who also added two ground balls and a caused turnover.
The Beavers owned a 32-15 advantage in shots, also holding a 28-16 edge in ground balls. Mount Holyoke had a 12-10 margin in draw controls.
Both teams return to action on Wednesday as Mount Holyoke hosts Wheaton in a Battle of the Lyons at 6pm, while Babson hosts Emerson at 7pm.
