CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Senior Annica Lam (Livingston, N.J.) led all players with seven goals and two caused turnovers as No. 16 MIT defeated No. 17 Babson College, 19-8, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's lacrosse action on Saturday afternoon at Jack Barry Field. 

Babson has dropped two of its last three games to slip to 7-5 overall and 4-3 in conference play. MIT has won four consecutive games to improve to 11-3 overall and 6-1 in the NEWMAC. 

Senior Lilly Bedard (Jupiter, Fla.) finished with three goals and one assist for four points, while first-years Jenna Wong (Walpole, Mass.) and Margaux Boneu (Portsmouth, R.I.) each scored twice to pace the Beavers. Fellow rookie Grace Rooney (Milton, Mass.) scored once and had three draw controls, sophomore Courtney Laden (Wilmette, Ill.) finished with a team-high five draw controls to go along with two ground balls and one caused turnover, and junior Morgan McGahan (Ho Ho Kus, N.J.) stopped five shots in the loss. 

Senior Ashley Thomas (Summit, N.J.) produced four goals and three assists for seven points, junior Jillian Butler (Brecksville, Ohio) added three goals and two assists for five points, and first-year Mairin Anderson (Concord, Mass.) led all players with seven draw controls for the Engineers. Junior goalkeeper Pauline Vien (Brookline, Mass.) made eight saves in the victory. 

MIT got goals from Butler, Thomas and Lam to forge a 3-0 lead less than six minutes into the contest before Wong and Bedard struck just 57 seconds apart to cut the deficit to 3-2 with 7:26 left in the first. Thomas answered with her second goal of the day just over a minute later and the Engineers followed a tally by Boneu early in the second quarter with five unanswered goals by five different players over the final 7:44 of the period to extend their lead to 9-3 at the half. 

Thomas scored for the third time with 12:38 to go in the third before Rooney stopped the MIT run to get the Beavers back within 10-4 just over a minute later. Bedard notched her second goal of the afternoon at the 1:14 mark of the third after Babson was unable to convert a pair of free-position shots earlier in the stanza, but Thomas and Lam scored man-up goals 50 seconds apart as the hosts extended their cushion back to 13-5 with 12:38 remaining in the fourth. 

Boneu and Wong scored 58 seconds apart to cut the deficit to 13-7 with 9:25 left, but the Engineers responded with six of the game's final seven goals, including three by Lam, over the final 8:23. 

MIT finished the day with the edge in shots (32-28), ground balls (13-5) and draw controls (15-13), and converted 7-of-8 free-position chances. The Beavers were just 2-of-8 on free-position shots in the loss. 

Babson returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts Bowdoin at 7 p.m., while the Engineers take on Wheaton on Wednesday at 5 p.m. 

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are 40-8 all-time against MIT but have dropped back-to-back meetings in the series. 
•    The 19 goals allowed on Saturday are the most by Babson since a 20-8 loss to Colby in the second round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament. 
•    Bedard and Wong both extended their points streaks to 12 games, and Wong has at least one goal in each of the last six contests.