Beavers Earn Share Of First Regular-Season Conference Title Since 1990

BOSTON—Sophomore John Higgins (Duxbury, Mass.) scored three goals, and 16 different players finished with at least one point as visiting Babson College raced past Emerson College, 21-3, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's lacrosse action on Wednesday night at Rotch Field.

With its fourth straight win, Babson (9-6, 6-0 NEWMAC) clinched at least a share of its first conference regular-season title since 1990, while Emerson has dropped four consecutive games to fall to 5-10 overall and 0-6 in the NEWMAC.

Junior Scott Doten (Western Springs, Ill.) and first-year Jason Cox (Westwood, Mass.) both had two goals and two assists, while classmate Axel Brown (Little Compton, R.I.) added a goal and a career-high four assists for the Beavers. Senior Kyle Barsalou (Longmeadow, Mass.), junior Spencer Low (Natick, Mass.) and first-year John Gilbert (Ellicott City, Md.) all scored twice, and classmate Taylor Segreti (North Potomac, Md.) added a career-high three assists in the win.

Senior Phil Russo (Middleton, Mass.), who led all players with seven ground balls, and sophomore Connor Hinton (Florham Park, N.J.) combined to win 18-of-21 face-offs for the Green and White.

Junior Nick Kitsos (Summit, N.J.) scored once and added two assists, while sophomore Dan Terry (Westborough, Mass.) finished with four ground balls and a game-high six caused turnovers for the Lions.

Babson won 12-of-14 first-half face-offs and outshot Emerson 27-5 over the opening 30 minutes to build a 12-0 halftime advantage. The Beavers opened a 3-0 lead just 2:32 into the first quarter when junior John Harrison (Pembroke, Mass.) scored off a pass from sophomore Thomas Daly (Wantagh, N.Y.). Four different players then scored over the final 5:04 of the stanza to make it 7-0.

Emerson got on the board on a tally by Kitsos just 11 seconds into the third quarter, but the Green and White responded with goals by Higgins, Gilbert and Cox to make it 15-1 with 10 minutes to go in the period. The Beavers added six more fourth-quarter goals, and found the back of the net with nine of their 11 second half shots on goal.

First-year goalkeeper Jordan Shapiro (Pleasantville, N.Y.) and sophomore Grant Masingill (Victor, N.Y.) combined to make three saves for Babson. Sophomore Jordan Maue (Andover, Mass.) stopped 10 shots for the Lions.

The Green and White finished with a 40-15 edge in shots and a 39-30 advantage in ground balls. The Beavers were successful on 22-of-23 clear opportunities.

Both teams conclude the regular season on Saturday at 1 p.m. as Babson travels to Coast Guard, while Emerson visits Clark.