Pashos, Field Hockey Outlast Wheaton, 2-1

BABSON PARK, Mass. – Babson College senior tri-captain Jess Pashos (Winchester, Mass.) made 10 saves in net to help her team battle back from an early deficit and defeat visiting Wheaton College, 2-1, in a key New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) field hockey showdown at Babson's MacDowell Field on Tuesday night. With the win, the Beavers improved to 8-9 overall and 4-2 in league play, while the Lyons fell to 7-8 overall and 3-3 in the conference.

Wheaton scored the only goal of the first half, as sophomore Emily Chick (Bangor, Maine) collected a loose ball out of a scramble in front of the Babson net and blasted it into the cage at 8:51. It was Chick's fifth goal of the year and it gave the Lyons a 1-0 advantage that they would carry into halftime.

Babson tied the contest with a nearly identical goal 10 minutes into the second half. Off a busted penalty corner, the ball was deflected to senior Kristen Steigerwald (North Andover, Mass.) five yards from the goal line. The Beavers' tri-captain then hammered it through a crowd and past screened goalie Ellie Massengill (Amherst, Mass.) for her third marker of the year at 45:16.

It remained 1-1 until the 54th minute, when Babson senior tri-captain Anneliese Brosch (Essex, Mass.) gained control at the top of the circle and flicked a shot toward the right post. Sophomore Morgan Lockwood (Feeding Hills, Mass.) then redirected it back to the center of the cage for her team-leading 19th goal of the season and a 2-1 Beaver advantage at 53:28.

That would be plenty for Pashos, who stopped all four shots on net that she faced in the second half to help her team finish off the victory. It was her third consecutive game with 10 or more saves and her eighth double-digit saves performance of the season.

Massengill also played brilliantly in goal for Wheaton, making a pair of fabulous diving stick saves to her right early in the second period – one on a reverse sweep by senior Courtney Weaving (New Preston, Conn.) just 15 seconds in and another on a lunging tip shot by Lockwood eight and a half minutes later.

Tuesday's game marked Babson's fourth annual Play For The Cure event in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Sponsored by both Babson and Wheaton, this year's event once again raised money for the Susan G. Komen For The Cure Foundation.