BABSON PARK, Mass.—Junior Matt Stucchi (Rexford, N.Y.) tallied a career-high seven points and fourth-seeded Babson College overcame a 6-0 first-quarter deficit to pull out a 15-11 victory over fifth-seeded Emerson College in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's lacrosse tournament quarterfinal Monday evening at rainy MacDowell Field.

With the victory, Babson improves to 8-8 overall while Emerson completes its season at 12-6 overall. The Beavers advance to a semifinal game at top-seeded MIT on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Stucchi finished with three goals and a career-best four assists in his big night. Sophomore Topher Bower (Chicago, Ill.) added four goals for the Beavers, and graduate student Lee Sipes (Windham, N.H.), junior Chi Chi Price (Hingham, Mass.) and first-year Emmett Martin (Milton, Mass.) chipped in with two goals apiece. Sophomore Grey Sunderland (Bellevue, Wash.) won 20 of 30 face-offs and collected a team-high nine ground balls and senior Mac Mowat (Bellevue, Wash.) made five saves in goal in the win.

Senior Drew Thomas (Jacksonville Beach, Fla.) and sophomore Ford Carney (Garden City, N.Y.) both registered a pair of caused turnovers and combined to pickup eight ground balls on the night for Babson.

Junior Nicholas Fulgione (North Andover, Mass.) scored a career-high six goals for Emerson and established the new single-season program record with 47 goals, and senior Skyler Celotto (Westport, Conn.) finished with two goals and set the career goal scoring mark with 94. Sophomore Birk Swan (Palos Verdes, Calif.) added a goal and an assist, and senior goalie Malcolm McGrath (Ridgefield, Conn.) made 14 saves and grabbed a team-high five ground balls in the setback.

In an opposite start from the regular season contest when Babson jumped out to a 7-0 first-quarter lead, the Lions burst out to a 6-0 advantage in the opening frame. The rally included three goals and an assist from Fulgione and a goal and an assist from Swan. The Beavers settled down and got three goals back before the end of the first quarter, including two from Bower, and sophomore Alex Fairman (Fayetteville, Ark.) and Sipes notched the first two of the second quarter to pull Babson to within a goal.

After Celetto scored for the visitors to break up the Babson momentum, the Beavers took over and scored the next three goals, one each from Sipes, Martin and Bower, to take an 8-7 lead at the intermission.

The Lions pulled even to start the third quarter, but Babson outscored Emerson 5-1 the rest of the frame, including two goals and two assists from Stucchi and a pair of tallies from Price, to pull ahead 13-9 after three. Bower and Stucchi tallied the first two goals of the fourth quarter as the Beaver lead ballooned to 15-9, and Emerson managed just two more goals to close out the scoring.

The Beavers ended up with a 58-35 advantage in shots and a 37-29 margin in ground balls. Babson won 20 of 30 face-offs and was good on 13-of-16 clears while holding Emerson to 14-of-21.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers have won all nine career meetings against Emerson and have outscored the Lions 141-37.
• The six-goal comeback marked the largest deficit faced by Babson in a victory since April 29, 2017, when it rallied from a 10-5 hole at Coast Guard to edge the Bears 16-15.
• Monday's win was just the second this season for the Beavers when trailing after the first quarter.
• Babson is now 9-2 all-time in home conference tournament games.