NORTON, Mass.— Babson College tallied a pair of first-half goals and first-year keeper Callahan Cottone (Medway, Mass.) made four saves in goal as the Beavers opened New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play with a 3-0 victory over Wheaton College Sunday afternoon at Christina Mirrione '99 Stadium.

With the victory, the Beavers level their overall record at 2-2-1 and start the conference campaign at 1-0 while the Lyons drop to 2-3-1 overall and 0-1 in the NEWMAC.

Seniors Olivia Maltbie (Niskayuna, N.Y.) and Cassie Lawson (Davie, Fla.) and graduate student Morgan Krauss (Belmont, Mass.) scored goals for the Beavers and junior Laura Lukowicz (Coventry, R.I.) registered an assist. Cottone's effort in goal was her second clean sheet of the season.

Sophomore Patricia Bandrup (Poway, Calif.) matched her season high with 10 saves in goal for the Lyons.

The Beavers jumped on top in the 17th minute when Maltbie intercepted a Wheaton clear attempted and booted a shot from 35 yards out that sailed into the top right corner of the goal.

The Green and White doubled its lead in the 33rd minute when Bandrup came out of her goal to break up a lead pass over top of the Wheaton defense but Krauss delivered a self-pass to avoid Bandrup and then sent to ball into the empty net from the top of the 18-yard box to make it a 2-0 game.

Babson nearly scored again less than a minute later off a corner kick but Bandrup made a nice save on Lawson from 10 yards out.

Wheaton was inches away from getting on the scoreboard in the first minute of the second half but a shot by first-year Maya Thomas (Goffstown, N.H.) from 20 yards out bounced off the crossbar. Cottone made a save off a header by sophomore Racquel Garces (Somerset, N.J.) moments later.

The Beavers added an insurance goal in the 66th minute following a corner kick. The corner was taken from the right corner and sailed through the goal area and off a defender to Lukowicz on the left side. She sent the ball back in front and Lawson put it in the back to the net with a header.

Cottone made her final save to preserve the whitewash on a nice shot by sophomore Mia Wolfgang (Holliston, Mass.) with three minutes remaining. Babson finished with a 22-9 advantage in shots and 13-4 margin in shots on goal. The Beavers had a slight 5-4 lead in corner kicks.

The Green and White opens a three-game home stand at Hartwell-Rogers Field on Wednesday with a non-conference encounter with Endicott, beginning at 4:15 p.m. Wheaton hosts WPI in a conference encounter Tuesday at 4 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is now 15-28-9 against Wheaton in the career series that dates back to 1981.
• The Beavers are 13-3-5 in their last 21 games against NEWMAC foes, including the post-season.
• The Green and White have scored the first goal of the game in all five outings this season.
• The Babson defense has posted 12 shutouts since the start of last season.