SALISBURY, Md.— Senior Camryn Pepper (Denton, Md.) and graduate student Erin Scannell (Fallston, Md.) combined for five goals and four assists and No. 5 Salisbury University made a six-goal first-quarter surge stand up on the way to defeating No. 15 Babson College, 15-10, in the regional semifinals of the NCAA Division III  Women's Lacrosse Tournament Saturday morning at Sea Gull Stadium.

With its seventh straight victory, Salisbury improves to 16-3 overall and advances to the regional finale on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. against No. 7 Washington & Lee. Babson had its five-game winning streak snapped and finished the season at 17-3 overall.

Junior Amelia Novitch (Dover, Mass.) scored three goals to lead the Beavers while graduate student Lily Ives (Chappaqua, N.Y.) tallied a goal and two assists. Juniors Clare Connolly (Hanover, Mass.), Jessica Evans (Southbury, Conn.) and Kathryn Blake (Medfield, Mass.) notched two goals apiece and Connolly collected a game-high 10 draw controls. Seniors Eileen Manning (Needham, Mass.) and Abbie Downer (North Andover, Mass.) scooped up four ground balls and junior goalie Kathleen Murphy (Scarborough, Maine) and first-year Morgan McGahan (Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J.) combined to make eight saves in the Beaver goal.

Pepper finished with two goals and three assists and Scannell was good for three goals and one helper for the Sea Gulls. Senior Mary Hanzsche (Berwyn, Pa.) contributed four assists, classmate Caroline Knight (Warwick, Md.) scored three times, and fellow senior Leah Vilov (Salisbury, Md.) filled up the stat sheet with two goals, an assist, two draw controls, two caused turnovers and four ground balls. Junior Natalie Held (Ellicott City, Md.) grabbed seven draw controls, senior Meridith Price (Street, Md.) forced three turnovers, and graduate student Kaitlyn Hunsinger (Lutherville, Md.) finished with four saves in goal in the win.

The upset-minded Beavers started the game with the first two goals, Evans breaking the ice with a goal less than two minutes in and Novitch following with her first of the day 80 seconds later. The Sea Gulls came alive with the next six goals to close out the quarter, starting with Hanzsche setting up Pepper and sophomore Grace Doyle (York, Pa.) to tie the game with 8:17 on the clock. Pepper put Salisbury in front 47 seconds later, and Vilov sandwiched a pair of goals around one by Knight to give the hosts a 6-2 lead after one frame.

Connolly stopped the bleeding with a player-up goal in the first minute of the second quarter, but Salisbury tacked on four of the next five goals, including a pair by Scannell. Only a goal by Ives broke up the rally by the Sea Gulls as the lead grew to 10-4. Babson stayed focused and scored two of the final three goals of the half, both by Blake to offset one by sophomore Miranda Mears (Salisbury, Md.), as the teams went into the break with the hosts up 11-6.

After a 17-goal first half, the defenses tightened, and teams combined for just three goals in the third frame. Scannell fired one in for Salisbury with 12:15 on the clock, Novitch answered for Babson two minutes later, and Scannell set up Price midway through the frame to give the Sea Gulls a 13-7 advantage after three.

Babson would not go away quietly as Ives set up Novitch to start the fourth quarter and Evans finished off a player-up goal to cut the margin to 13-9 with 8:20 to play. Knight responded with a goal for Salisbury a minute later and Connolly and Mears traded goals in the final four minutes to round out the scoring.

The Sea Gulls finished with a 36-24 advantage in shots and a 28-18 margin in ground balls. Salisbury was good on 3-of-5 free position shots while Babson went scoreless on two attempts.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is 0-2 all-time against Salisbury in the all-time series that dates back to 2009.
• The Beavers allowed more than 10 goals for just the third time this season.
• The Green and White were outnumbered in draw controls for just the fifth time in 17 games this spring.