MIDDLETOWN, Conn.— Junior Will Miller (San Francisco, Calif.) scored five goals and added an assist as No. 5 Wesleyan University outscored Babson College 10-4 in the second half on the way to defeating the Beavers, 16-7, in the second round of the NCAA Division III men's lacrosse tournament Saturday afternoon at Citrin Field.

With the win, the Cardinals improve to 13-5 and move on to a third-round contest on Sunday at 3 p.m. The Beavers had a three-game postseason winning streak snapped and wind up the season at 14-6 overall.

Sophomore Seamus Rooney (Bay Shore, N.Y.) led the Beavers with three goals and an assist while graduate student Jacob Tauss (San Marcos, Calif.) contributed three goals and sophomore Camden Matthews (Westford, Mass.) added a goal and two assists in the setback. Graduate student Tripp Clark (Byfield, Mass.) caused a pair of turnovers and scooped up six ground balls, senior Gavin Bailey (Hinsdale, Ill.) grabbed five ground balls, and senior Alex Fascilla (Huntington, N.Y.) made nine saves between the pipes.

Graduate student CK Giancola (Fort Myers, Fla.) finished with two goals and an assist, senior Devin O'Sullivan (Point Lookout, N.Y.) and junior James Bailey (Madison, N.J.) had a goal and two assists, and sophomore Matt Morrow (Ipswich, Mass.) scored twice for the Cardinals. Senior Tyler Campbell (Charlotte, N.C.) and first-year Jack Doherty (Marblehead, Mass.) each won 6-of-10 face-offs, Doherty and sophomore Joe Hurton (Quincy, Mass.) collected five ground balls, and senior Reef Kabalin (Jupiter, Fla.) caused three turnovers and collected two ground balls. Junior Conor Selfridge (Elmhurst, Ill.) made 10 saves in goal in the victory.

After Tauss opened the scoring for Babson less than two minutes into the game off an assist from sophomore Luke Wang (Simsbury, Conn.), the hosts rattled off three goals in less than four minutes, one each from Miller, Giancola and O'Sullivan. Tauss added his second of the game with a man-up strike but Miller answered for Wesleyan a minute later and the Cardinals went to the second quarter with a 4-2 advantage.

Junior Ben Burns (Suffern, N.Y.) scored the only goal in the first 12 minutes of the second stanza for Wesleyan as both teams tightened up the defense. Rooney broke the drought with a Babson goal with 3:11 on the clock, and Morrow tacked on a goal in the final minutes as Wesleyan had just a three-goal lead, 6-3, at the intermission.

Babson scored twice in the first seven minutes of the third quarter but each time, Wesleyan responded. Matthews tallied the first goal of the frame for the Beavers with 9:47 on the clock, but junior Charlie Wilmot (Topsfield, Mass.) came right back with a goal 31 seconds later. Rooney fired in a man-down goal with 7:58 to play to cut the deficit to 7-5, but Miller answered for the hosts just 13 seconds later.

The Cardinals pulled away with the final five goals of the third period, two by Miller and one each by grad student Jack Raba (Cheshire, Conn.), senior Charlie Hoban (Winnetka, Ill.) and Morrow, and followed that with the first three of the fourth quarter, one each by Miller, Baile and Giancola, as the lead ballooned to 15-5 with five minutes remaining. Rooney and Tauss added late goals for the Beavers and senior Cole Ward (Park City, Utah) wrapped up the scoring for the Cardinals.

Wesleyan finished with a 48-40 shot advantage and a 40-34 margin in ground balls. Face-offs and turnovers were both tied at 13 each.

GAME NOTES
• Babson has dropped eight in a row to Wesleyan since 1998 and is 1-11 all-time against the Cardinals in a series that dates back to 1994.
• Three of the Beavers' six losses this season were to top-10 teams (No. 1 Tufts, No. 9 Bowdoin, No. 5 Wesleyan).
• The Green and White are 3-4 in NCAA Tournament games over the past four years after making just one NCAA Tournament appearance in the program's first five decades.
• Tauss has scored 25 goals and added four assists in 13 career postseason games.