BABSON PARK, Mass.— Junior Camaje Easton-Smith (Hamilton, Bermuda) scored his first career goal in the 14th minute and No. 8 Wheaton College held on to defeat Babson College, 1-0, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's soccer action on Tuesday afternoon at Hartwell-Rogers Field.

Babson, which has dropped two of its last three games, is now 8-6-3 overall and 4-2-1 in conference play. Wheaton, which snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Beavers, improved to 13-0-4 overall and 6-0-1 to clinch its first NEWMAC regular season title since 2014.

Sophomore keeper JB Montague (Lutz, Fla.) matched his career high with seven saves for the Beavers, including five in the second half.

Senior Aidan Doyle (Kingston, Mass.) picked up an assist on the Wheaton goal, and senior Michael O'Gara (Ardmore, Pa.) made two saves in goal for his league-leading sixth shutout of the season.

Wheaton opened the scoring less than 14 minutes into the contest with a 25-yard blast through traffic by Easton-Smith following a short corner kick by Doyle.

Despite being forced to defend for much of the opening 20 minutes, Babson had multiple scoring opportunities in the opening stanza. Senior Will Lloyd's (Lexington, Mass.) blast ricocheted wide off a defender in the 21st minute and junior Titus Charles (San Tan Valley, Ariz.) saw his header off a free kick sail over the crossbar in the 34th minute.

Fellow junior McKenzy Pierre (West Orange, N.J.) had the best chance of the half in the 38th minute when he broke free into the box on a counterattack only to have a Wheaton defender track back to get a foot on his shot deflecting it into the hands of O'Gara.

Montague turned away a pair of shots by junior Declan Rhatigan (Holderness, N.H.) over the first seven minutes of the second half to keep the Beavers within one, which included diving to his right to get his hand on a rocket from just inside the top of the box in the 52nd minute. Senior Joao Araujo (Boca Raton, Fla.) also made a terrific defensive play to step in front of Montague to deny Doyle's bid to extend the Wheaton lead from inside eight yards in the 68th minute.

Pierre missed just wide of the near post following a long throw into the box with just under 17 minutes to play, and Lloyd's free kick from just over 25 yards went just wide of the left post in the final seconds.

Rhatigan narrowly missed a chance to give the visitors a two-goal advantage when his diving header off a Doyle free kick went just over the bar in the 82nd minute.

The visitors finished with a 13-10 edge in total shots and an 8-2 margin in shots on target as well as a 5-3 advantage in corner kicks.

Both teams conclude the regular season on Saturday as Babson travels to Coast Guard at 12 p.m., while Wheaton hosts Springfield at 2 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• Despite its first loss to Wheaton since the 2016 NEWMAC Tournament semifinals, Babson is 27-21-0 all-time against the Lyons in a series that dates back to 1990.
• Tuesday's outcome snapped Babson's streak of 20 consecutive wins over NEWMAC opponents at Hartwell-Rogers Field since its loss to MIT back in 2021. 
• Wheaton's goal on Tuesday was the first conceded by Babson in 13 home conference games and 1,170 minutes going back to the first half of a 3-1 victory over WPI on September 16, 2023.
• Babson allowed no more than one goal for the eighth straight game and 14th time in 17 games this season, and all six losses this season have been by one goal.