BABSON PARK, Mass.— First-year Marcie Iannico (Lynbrook, N.Y.) scored a goal midway through the second half to give Johnson & Wales University a two-goal lead and the Wildcats held on for a 3-2 victory over Babson College in the non-conference women's soccer season opener for both teams Friday afternoon at Hartwell-Rogers Field.

Babson, which finished with a 13-7 advantage in shots, begins the season at 0-1-0 while the Wildcats are off to a 1-0-0 start.

Senior Jordyn Ferrantino (Millis, Mass.) had a part in both Babson scores with a goal and an assist and classmate Laura Lukowicz (Coventry, R.I.) also scored her first-career goal for the Beavers. Senior Nora Ryan (Abington, Mass.) and junior Cleo Grignard (Red Bank, N.J.) played 45 minutes apiece in goal and each finished with one save.

Senior Emily DeRoehn (Old Lyme, Conn.) and first-year Rowan Garr (Barkhamsted, Conn.) scored first-half goals for the Wildcats, and senior Skyla Landry (Coventry, R.I.), first-year Kyla Leahy (Norton, Mass.) and sophomore Lulani Haslinger (Groton, N.Y.) registered assists in the win. Senior Leah Bragaw (Vienna, Va.) went the distance in goal for JWU and earned the win making four saves.

The Wildcats took the lead in the ninth minute of the game when DeRoehn finished off a corner kick feed from Landry with a header into the left side of the goal. Bragaw made a nice save in the 20th minute on a shot from point-bland range by senior Elisa Diletizia (Canton, Mass.) to keep the hosts scoreless.

The Beavers got on the board in the 34th minute on a corner kick of their own when Ferrentino fed the ball from the left corner and it curled around the left post and into the goal to tie the game at 1-1. The game appeared to headed into halftime tied but Leahy sent a ball into the box from the right side in the 43rd minute and Garr buried it to give the visitors a 2-1 lead at the intermission.

Bragaw denied first-year Mack Feeney (North Attleboro, Mass.) on a clean shot five minutes into the second half that would have tied the game. Iannico extended the JWU lead to 3-1 in the 68th minute, finishing off a feed from Haslinger.

Babson made a late rally for a comeback attempt. Lukowicz scored on a header from a corner kick feed in the 89th minute, and a free kick in the 90th minute was narrowly cleared away by the Wildcats.

The Beavers are home again on Tuesday against Connecticut College at 6 p.m. at Hartwell-Rogers Field. Johnson & Wales returns home for its home opener on Wednesday against Elms at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• JWU now leads the all-time series against Babson 2-1-1.
• The Beavers are 14-6-3 in their last 23 season openers dating back to 2001.
• Ferrantino notched at least three points in a game for the fourth time in her career.