BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior Caroline Malone (Walpole, Mass.) and sophomore Staci Swallow (South Portland, Maine) scored 3:39 apart midway through the second half to send the Babson College field hockey team to a season-opening 2-1 victory over visiting Endicott College at MacDowell Field on Friday afternoon.

With the win, Babson is now 1-0 while Endicott drops to 0-1.

Following a scoreless first half that featured just eight combined shots, play opened up after halftime. The Beavers earned four penalty corners over the first 7:28 of the stanza and junior Elizabeth Holmes (Southborough, Mass.) had a pair of attempts thwarted by Gulls' sophomore goalkeeper Francheska Ventura (Lawrence, Mass.). Malone finally broke the ice with the season's first goal following a penalty corner at the 46:41 mark of the game.

After inserting on a penalty corner, Malone darted to the left post where she took a pass from Holmes and blasted a low shot past Ventura to put the Green and White in front 1-0. Swallow followed with the second goal of her career with 19:48 left in the game, converting a crossing pass from sophomore Megan Jones (Essex, Mass.) for a two-goal edge.

Endicott came right back and cut the lead in half with 9:12 remaining in the contest as first-year Brittany Bushey (Pittsfield, Vt.) scored off a feed from senior Elizabeth Leclair (Wilton, Maine) to make it 2-1. Both teams attempted one penalty corner over the final nine minutes and Babson junior goalkeeper Kayla Costa (Watertown, Mass.) made a tremendous save to deny a potential game-tying goal from Gulls' senior Emily Sawchuck (Cumberland, Maine) in the closing minute to preserve the win.

Costa, making her first collegiate start, stopped three shots to earn the first win of her career for the Green and White, while Ventura had five saves in a losing effort for Endicott.

The Beavers held a 15-8 edge in shots and finished with a 15-11 advantage in penalty corners.

Babson returns to action on Wednesday when it travels to Worcester State University at 7 p.m., while Endicott will host local rival Salem State University in its home opener on Thursday at 4 p.m.

GAME NOTES: Babson is now 6-2 all-time against Endicott and has won five straight games against the Gulls going back to 2010…Each of the last three meetings between the Beavers and the Gulls have been decided by a single goal…Babson has now won its season opener in seven consecutive seasons going back to 2008…Going back to last season, the Beavers have now won seven of their last eight games at home.