#1 Salisbury Defeats #10 Babson, 18-7, In NCAA Tournament Second Round

BOX SCORE

SALISBURY, Md. - The Babson College women's lacrosse team put up a valiant effort against the top-ranked team in the nation on Saturday, but the 10th-ranked Beavers eventually fell to #1 Salisbury University, 18-7, in the second round of the 2009 NCAA Division III Tournament. With the loss, Babson sees its magnificent season come to a close with a record of 15-3.

Senior captain Lindsay Bucci (Medford, Mass.) paced the Beavers with two goals in defeat, while fellow senior captain Jackie Godfrey (Franklin, Mass.) added one goal and one assist. Junior Anna Collins (Winchester, Mass.), junior Kaitlyn Pettengill (Hopkinton, Mass.), sophomore Ellen McCurdy (Weston, Mass.), and sophomore Alyssa Hood (Newport, R.I.) also added goals for the Beavers, first-year Trisha Babson (Duxbury, Mass.) picked up a team-high six draw controls, and sophomore goalie Sarah Macary (Woodbury, Conn.) finished an outstanding performance in net with 14 saves.

Salisbury was led by seniors Robyn Bishop (Columbia, Md.) and Ashleigh Gender (Pasadena, Md.), who scored four and three goals, respectively, and junior Beth Rhodey (Fallston, Md.), who added two goals and two assists. Sophomore Logan Bilderback (Arnold, Md.) chipped in with one goal and three helpers, and sophomore Trish DiGirolomo (Davidsonville, Md.) tallied a pair of goals. Senior Sonja Stuart (Rockville, Md.)  played all but two minutes in net for the Sea Gulls, finishing with eight saves.

Babson held its own in the first half, taking the first lead of the contest after a goal by Godfrey at 26:03.  Salisbury answered with two straight scores to jump in front, 2-1, but the Beavers scored three unanswered goals to build a 4-2 cushion. Bucci tied the game off a feed over the defense from Godfrey at 20:10, Hood followed with a transition goal at 17:15, and Pettengill made it 4-2 with a free position strike to the lower right corner at 11:24.

Salisbury got a huge momentum boost when Collins received a yellow card for a check to the head at 10:21, as the Sea Gulls scored on the ensuing free position and then added two more goals during the Beavers' three-minute man-down to take a 5-4 lead. Macary then came up with two huge saves to keep her team close, but the Sea Gulls managed to tack on two late scores to take a 7-4 advantage at the half.

A quick score by Bilderback 25 seconds into the second stanza gave Salisbury an 8-4 lead, but the Beavers battled back with consecutive goals to get back to within two. Collins scored the first on a solo breakaway at 28:59 and Bucci netted the second after intercepting a pass from Stuart from behind the goal and finding the open net at 27:43.

With its lead down to two, Salisbury responded with a five-goal run over the next 15 minutes to take control of the contest. Rhodey contributed one goal and two assists during the run, which gave the Sea Gulls a 13-6 lead that they would not relinquish. The nation's top ranked team would score five of the game's final six goals to claim the eventual 18-7 victory.