BOX SCORE

BABSON PARK, Mass. - Visiting Salve Regina University built a 6-0 in the first half and then withstood a furious comeback attempt by host Babson College as the Seahawks defeated the Beavers, 9-5, in a non-conference men's lacrosse matchup at Babson's MacDowell Field on Wednesday afternoon. With the win, Salve Regina improved to 2-1 on the year, while the Beavers slipped to 0-4.

Sophomore Brendan Rooney (West Newton, Mass.) paced the Seahawks with four goals and one assist for five points, while first-years Brendan Carroll (Garden City, N.J.) and Chris Walker (Marshfield, Mass.) added two goals apiece. Sophomore Evan Gates (Ridge, N.J.) also netted a goal in the win, and senior goalie Brian Walker (Marshfield, Mass.) made 14 saves in an outstanding performance in net.

For Babson, senior E.J. Peterson (Framingham, Mass.) tallied two goals and one assist for three points, while senior captain Bryan Wilbur (Hingham, Mass.), sophomore Andrew Packer (Hudson, Ohio), and first-year Paul Grip (Shrewsbury, Mass.) each added a goal. First-year Cam Caruso (St. Charles, Ill.) added a huge game with 12 groundballs and 11 face-off wins, while sophomore Mike Saucier (Nashua, N.H.) and senior captain Max Owen (Hamilton, N.J.) combined for 16 saves in goal.

Salve Regina held a 4-0 lead after one quarter of play, as Rooney scored twice off assists from senior Ryan Doherty (Newton, Mass.) and Chris Walker and Gates also added scores. Walker and Carroll then struck again in the second quarter, and Brian Walker held the Beavers scoreless with eight first-half saves as the Seahawks entered halftime with a 6-0 lead.

Babson finally gained some momentum in the third quarter behind the brilliant play of Caruso and Owen. Caruso won three of five face-offs while picking up four groundballs in the period, while Owen stopped all five shots that he faced. Meanwhile, Peterson scored two straight goals and then assisted Grip on a quick strike over a six-minute span, and Packer struck again off a nice feed from Caruso with 31 seconds left as the Beavers closed the gap to 6-4 heading into the final quarter of play.

A slashing penalty early in the fourth finally halted Babson's 4-0 run, as Rooney scored his second man-up goal of the day to make it 7-4 with 12:56 to play. Carroll added another tally with just under five minutes remaining to push the Seahawks' advantage to 8-4 before Wilbur netted an unassisted goal to cut the Beavers' deficit back to three with 3:33 on the clock. Salve Regina would then successfully stall for the next two minutes before Rooney recorded his fourth goal of the game on an empty net with 47 seconds remaining, resulting in the 9-5 final.