WHITTIER, Calif.—Whittier College senior Daniel McQuade (New Westminster, BC, Canada) scored the game-winning goal with 3:13 remaining in the fourth quarter to help the Poets to a comeback victory over Babson College in non-conference men's lacrosse action on Tuesday afternoon. The Poets used a four-goal run spanning the third and fourth quarters to help erase a three-goal deficit and overtake the Beavers for the win.

With the win, Whittier stayed perfect on the season at 4-0, while the Beavers dropped a third consecutive game to fall to 3-3.

McQuade, who assisted on three earlier goals, finished with four points on the day for Whittier, while sophomore Hunter Hall (Littleton, Colo.) and first-year Foster Cunningham (San Anselmo, Calif.) each added two goals apiece.  Senior Tom Mallon (Manhasset, N.Y.) paced six Beavers in the scoring column with two goals and an assist, while junior Alex Patinkin (Providence, R.I.) added a goal and an assist.

After a quiet start for both teams, junior Mike Griffin (Duxbury, Mass.) opened the scoring  with an unassisted goal to give Babson a 1-0 lead nearly 10 minutes in. Mallon followed that with a man-up goal just over a minute later to put the Beavers ahead 2-0 with 4:19 remaining in the first quarter. Cunningham, off an assist from McQuade, tallied late in the first quarter to bring the Poets within one at the end of the first stanza.

Senior Cam Caruso (St. Charles, Ill.) scored 3:48 into the second quarter, on an assist from Patinkin, to help Babson regain its two goal advantage. Cunningham once again cut the lead in half for the Poets, but first-year Phil Russo (Middleton, Mass.) tallied off the face off 13 seconds later, and Patinkin followed with a man-up goal to give Babson its biggest lead of the day at 5-2 with 4:18 to go before halftime. A late Babson turnover allowed Hall to score his first goal of the day for the Poets in a man-down situation, just nine seconds before intermission, trimming the Beavers advantage to 5-3 at the break.

After senior Jamie Schmidt (Shelburne, Vt.) pushed the Babson lead back to 6-3 just 50 seconds into the third quarter, the Beavers offense went silent and allowed Whittier to work its way back into the game. Kevin Looney (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Mike Neumayr (Phoenix, Ariz.) scored goals late in the third quarter before Hall and Danny Prevedel (Denver, Colo.) tallies, both off assists from McQuade, gave the Poets their first lead of the day, 7-6, with 5:57 remaining in the game. Mallon scored an unassisted goal with 4:34 to go to knot the game at seven, but McQuade's sixth goal of the season with just over three minutes remaining provided the final result and kept the Poets unbeaten streak alive.

James Whalen (Westwood, Mass.) made six saves in a losing effort for Babson, while Robert Bazlen (Phoenix, Ariz.) made 10 saves for Whittier. The Beavers were tremendous in the face-off spot as Russo won 13 of 19 on the afternoon, along with collecting five groundballs. Christian Cattaruzza (Guilford, Conn.) also collected five ground balls and caused four turnovers, while sophomore Ryan Dawidjan (Worcester, Mass.) picked up five ground balls and forced two turnovers. The Poets outshot Babson 32-31 for the game.

Babson College will remain in southern California to face Kean University (N.J.) on Thursday afternoon at 12:00pm PT, while Whittier is also back in action on Thursday when they host Union College (N.Y.).