BABSON PARK, Mass.—Graduate student Lily Ives (Chappaqua, N.Y.) finished with seven goals and two assists for nine points to help Babson College open the season with a 20-8 win over visiting Framingham State University in non-conference women's lacrosse action on Tuesday afternoon at MacDowell. 

Babson opens the season at 1-0, while Framingham State opens the 2024 campaign at 0-1.

Junior Amelia Novitch (Dover, Mass.) finished with five goals and two assists, classmate Clare Connolly (Hanover, Mass.) scored three times and won five draws, and fellow junior Kathryn Blake (Medfield, Mass.) scored once and dished out a game-high three assists to lead the Beavers. Senior Zoë Michaud (Bedford, N.H.) led all players with four caused turnovers and junior Kathleen Murphy (Scarborough, Maine) stopped eight shots to earn the win between the pipes. 

Senior Hannah Guerin (Cumberland, R.I.) and classmate Rachel Erickson (Dunstable, Mass.), who led all players with nine draw controls, both scored three times to lead the Rams. Junior Leah Green (Chelmsford, Mass.) had two goals, classmate Kaleigh Houlihan (Franklin, Mass.) finished with four ground balls and three caused turnovers, and sophomore Isabella DiMare (Wakefield, Mass.) made five saves in the loss. 

Framingham State took a 1-0 lead just under five minutes into the contest before the Green and White responded with an 8-0 run over the next 14 minutes. Ives, junior Jessica Evans (Southbury, Conn.) and junior Michaela Downer (North Andover, Mass.) scored just over three minutes apart to build a two-goal lead, and Ives had a hand in the Beavers next four tallies, scoring twice and setting up scores by Novitch and Blake, as the lead swelled to 8-1 with 10:06 to play in the second quarter. 

Erickson stopped the run with a free-position strike just 29 seconds later and Green followed up two straight goals by Guerin with her second of the game with 0:03 left in the stanza to get the Rams within 8-5 at the half. Murphy made four key saves over the first four-plus minutes of the third quarter and Babson took advantage with a quick four-goal run to re-extend its lead. 

Ives buried a free-position chance at 9:28 and followed a tally by Evans with her fifth goal of the game at the 8:10 mark to make it 11-5. Connolly won the ensuing draw and notched her first goal of the game 41 seconds later for a seven-goal edge. Erickson ended the run at 5:12 of the third and Guerin completed her hat trick with 12:22 to go in the fourth to get the Rams within 12-7 before Ives scored in transition to spark a seven-goal run that included two tallies apiece by Novitch and Connolly to push the margin to 18-7 with 4:00 remaining. 

Babson returns to action on Sunday when it hosts No. 1 Middlebury at 1 p.m. while Framingham State travels to Norwich on Thursday at 4 p.m. 

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 3-0 all-time against Framingham State. 
•    Babson has gone 14-0 since the start of last year when scoring at least 12 goals. 
•    Connolly and Evans have both scored in eight consecutive games going back to last year, while Blake as a goal in each of her last three contests. 
•    The Beavers are 47-2 since the start of the 2018 season when allowing fewer than 10 goals.