BABSON PARK, Mass.— Junior Bennett Smith (Lake Oswego, Ore.) and sophomore Seamus Rooney (Bay Shore, N.Y.) combined for five goals and six assists and No. 20/16 Babson College outscored Nichols College 8-0 in the third quarter on the way to an 18-8 victory over the Bison in non-conference men's lacrosse action Tuesday afternoon at MacDowell Field.

Babson, ranked 14th by USA Lacrosse Magazine and 20th by the US Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association, improved to 3-1 overall while Nichols suffered its fourth straight loss to fall to 0-4 on the season.

Smith tallied six points (2g, 4a) and Rooney was good for five (3g, 2a) for the Beavers to lead 15 players who put at least one point on the scoresheet. Sophomores Anthony Stillwell (Weston, Mass.) and Camden Matthews (Westford, Mass.) scored twice each, and classmate Cooper Chapman (Hingham, Mass.), senior Colt Bordonaro (Portland, Ore.) and graduate student Justin Greene (Norwell, Mass.) notched a goal and an assist apiece in the win.

Junior Will Reading (Southlake, Texas) won a career-high 18 face-offs on 27 attempts and scooped up a career-high 10 ground balls for the Green and White. Sophomore Ryan St. Onge (Avon, Conn.) had a team-high four caused turnovers, first-year Grayson Ambrosh (Danvers, Mass.) forced three turnovers, and graduate transfer Tripp Clark (Byfield, Mass.) collected three caused turnovers and five ground balls for the Beavers, who got five saves in goal from Alex Fascilla (Huntington, N.Y.).

Senior Dylan DeRubeis (Wayland, Mass.) led the visitors with three goals and two assists, junior Jonah Libby (Pomfret, Conn.) had two goals and an assist, and junior Conor Doherty (Billerica, Mass.) added a goal and two assists for the Bison. First-year Jared Von Cor (Haverhill, Mass.) picked up a team-high four ground balls, and senior Brady Morgan (Framingham, Mass.) had a busy day in goal and finished with 15 saves.

Babson led 4-3 after a sluggish first quarter that included nine turnovers for each team. Rooney scored twice and Smith and Matthews added one each for the Beavers while DeRubeis, Libby and Doherty countered for the Bison. DeRubeis scored his second goal of the game midway through the second frame to tie it up at 4-4 before Greene and Matthews found the back of the net just 42 seconds apart as Babson took a two-goal lead. Libby set up junior John Caserta (Billerica, Mass.) for a goal with less than three minutes remaining as Nichols cut the margin to 6-5 at halftime.

The third quarter was all Babson. Graduate student Topher Bower (Chicago, Ill.) set up Smith just 39 seconds into the frame to put the Beavers ahead for good, and Chapman and Rooney scored back-to-back goals 34 seconds apart to extend the margin to 9-5. Ambrosh notched his first career goal midway through the period before Bordonaro and sophomore Rowan Mondello (Wakefield, Mass.) went back-to-back 42 second apart as the lead swelled to 12-5. Senior Gavin Bailey (Hinsdale, Ill.) and Stillwell rounded out the quarter with goals as the Green and White took a 14-5 lead into the final stanza.

Libby stopped the bleeding with the first goal of the fourth quarter for Nichols, but the Beavers put the game out of reach with consecutive goals by Stillwell, senior Emmett Martin (Milton, Mass.), Reading, and junior Braden Reilly (Reading, Mass.).

The smothering Babson defense limited Nichols to just 16 clears on 31 attempts while forcing 35 turnovers and producing 18-of-22 successful clears. The Beavers had a 19-10 advantage in face-offs and a 50-24 margin in ground balls while outshooting the visitors 51-29.

The Beavers make their first road trip of the season on Saturday when they visit Western New England for a 1 p.m. face-off. Nichols heads out on a spring break trip to Pennsylvania where it will face Gwynedd Mercy on Saturday at 3 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is 19-10 all-time against Nichols in a series that dates back to 1967, although Tuesday's game was just the second between the two teams since 1993.
• The Beavers have won 14 in a row going back to the start of the 2023 campaign when allowing eight goals or fewer.
• Bower extended his point streak to 35 games going back to 2023 and moved into fourth place on Babson's career assist list with 80 helpers.
• With Bordonaro, Ambrosh, Bailey, Reading, Martin, and Reilly all scoring their first goals of the season, the Beavers have now gotten goals from 20 different players this season.