BABSON PARK, Mass.— In a game that included three lead changes and seven tie scores, sophomores Cooper Chapman (Hingham, Mass.) and Anthony Stillwell (Weston, Mass.) scored the only goals of the fourth quarter as No. 20/14 Babson College pulled out an 11-9 victory over No. 19/20 Union College in a battle of nationally-ranked men's lacrosse teams Saturday afternoon at MacDowell Field.

Babson, ranked 20th USILA/14th USA Lacrosse, won its second straight game to start the season to move to 2-0 while Union, ranked 19th (USILA)/20th (USA Lacrosse) was playing its season debut and starts off at 0-1.

Stillwell finished with a team-high four goals for the Beavers while sophomore Camden Matthews (Westford, Mass.) scored twice and classmate Seamus Rooney (Bay Shore, N.Y.) and senior Riley Shaw (Duluth, Ga.) chipped in with a goal and an assist each. Graduate student Jacob Tauss (San Marcos, Calif.) and junior Bennett Smith (Lake Oswego, Ore.) chipped in with one goal each, graduate transfer Tripp Clark (Byfield, Mass.) led the defense with four caused turnovers and seven ground balls, and senior Alex Fascilla (Huntington, N.Y.) made 15 saves to earn the win between the pipes.

Junior Walter Popko (Lattingtown, N.Y.) led the visitors with four goals, senior Archie McEvoy (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) added three goals and an assist, and classmate Peter Kip (Cohasset, Mass.) chipped in with a pair of goals in the setback. Senior Luke McHugh (Longmeadow, Mass.) won 12-of-20 faceoffs and scooped up a game-high eight ground balls, classmate Patrick Reilly (Kenilworth, Ill.) grabbed seven ground balls, and first-year Thomas D'Angelo (Rochester, N.Y.) made eight saves in goal in his collegiate debut.

The teams traded goals two minutes apart midway through the opening frame, as McEvoy scored for Union and Tauss answered for the Beavers. They exchanged goals again, this time 27 seconds apart, just two minutes later as Kip found the back of the net for the Garnet Chargers and Rooney scored the equalizer as the teams went into the second quarter tied at 2-2.

Babson took its first lead of the day to open the second frame on Stillwell's first goal but Union evened the score less than a minute later on Kip's second tally. The Green and White pulled ahead again on back-to-back markers by Stillwell and Matthews (man-up) to go up 5-3 with 7:41 to play in the quarter. The visitors came alive and outscored the hosts 4-0 over the final seven minutes of the half, including three goals by Popko and one by McEvoy, to hold a 7-5 advantage at the intermission.

The Beavers came out of the break with the first two strikes to tie the game again on goals by Matthews and Shaw. After McEvoy put Union up 8-7 with 6:55 to play in the third, Babson got consecutive goals by Smith and Stillwell to pull ahead 9-8. Popko score his fourth of the game with 1:42 to go in the third to tie the game for the seventh time and send the teams into the fourth quarter at 9-all.

Defenses tightened in the final stanza and Babson notched the only two goals. Chapman gave the Beavers the lead for good with an assist from Shaw with 5:01 remaining, and Stillwell sealed the win with an insurance goal with 28.9 seconds remaining.

Union had a 40-34 advantage in shots and a 36-28 margin in ground balls while winning 13-of-23 faceoffs. The Garnet Chargers were 22-of-25 on clears while Babson was 20-of-22.

The Beavers are back in action next Saturday against Williams at 12:30 p.m. at MacDowell Field. Union returns home to host Springfield in its home opener on Saturday at 1 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• Babson captured its first victory in 17 career meetings against Union in a series that dates back to 2009. 
• The Green and White are 7-4 in games decided by two goals or fewer going back to 2023.
• The Beavers won their 15th consecutive home game dating back to April 22, 2023.
• Bower picked up an assist in the second quarter to extend his point streak to 34 games going back to March of 2023, but sophomore Luke Wang (Simsbury, Conn.) had his points streak stopped at 14 games.