BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior Ellie Rabenold (Cincinnati, Ohio) led all players with six goals as visiting MIT defeated Babson College, 17-8, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's lacrosse action on Saturday afternoon at MacDowell Field.

Babson, which had its two-game winning streak snapped, slips to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play, while MIT improves to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in the NEWMAC with its third consecutive win.

Graduate student Emily Curtis (Walpole, Mass.) scored four goals and senior Erin Jayne (Merrimac, Mass.) added two goals and one assist to lead the Beavers. Sophomore Clare Connolly (Hanover, Mass.) matched her career high with 13 draw controls, junior Kayleigh Hacker (Natick, Mass.) forced a career-best five turnovers and sophomore Kathleen Murphy (Scarborough, Maine) made 10 saves in the loss.

Senior Lindsey Gambino (Garden City, N.Y.) and sophomore Sydney Pyon (Garnet Valley, Pa.) both contributed three goals and one assist and classmate Julianne Flusche (Ridgewood, N.J.) chipped in with two goals and two assists to pace the Engineers. Junior Katie Bell (Radnor, Pa.) finished with three caused turnovers and the duo of first-year Molly Dulde (Delafield, Wis.) and senior Abigail Kolyer (Manhasset, N.Y.) combined to make 10 saves in the win.

Junior Meredith Arterburn (Cooksville, Md.) opened the scoring just over three minutes into the contest and Rabenold followed back-to-back tallies by Flusche to give MIT a 4-0 advantage with 2:22 left in the first quarter. Curtis got the Green and White on the board a minute later and she followed senior Anna Katherine Sypniewski's (Vero Beach, Fla.) tally 70 seconds into the second with her second marker of the day to cut the deficit to 5-3 at the 12:33 mark. Jayne kept the Beavers within two with her sixth goal of the year with 5:25 to go in the stanza but the Engineers followed with three straight scores to extend its lead to 9-4 just 42 seconds before halftime.

Senior Claudia Dodge (Pelham, N.Y.) converted a free-position chance with three seconds remaining in the second and Jayne notched her second goal of the game to get the hosts back within 9-6 just over two minutes into the third period. MIT got goals from first-year Ashley Thomas (Summit, N.J.) and Pyon to regain an 11-6 edge with 9:12 left in the quarter before Curtis tallied back-to-back markers to close the gap to 11-8 with 4:44 remaining in the quarter.

Babson would get no closer though, as the Engineers closed the game with six unanswered goals. Gambino buried a free-position shot to open the fourth extending the margin to 13-8 and Flusche set up consecutive tallies by Rabenold and Gambino to give the visitors a 15-8 edge with 7:11 remaining.

The Beavers finished with a 32-30 edge in shots and a 16-12 advantage in draw controls but converted just 3-of-11 free-position chances. MIT scored on 5-of-6 free-position opportunities and won the ground ball battle, 18-13.

Babson returns to action on Tuesday when it travels to Trinity at 6 p.m., while MIT visits Bowdoin on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 36-6 all-time against MIT and suffered just their second loss in the series over the last eight games going back to 2016.
• Saturday's loss was just the fourth in Babson's last 30 home games against NEWMAC foes and just its fifth regular season setback in league play dating back to 2016.
• Curtis has now scored at least three goals in five consecutive games going back to March 5.