SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (March 8, 2025) – The Western New England men's lacrosse team surrendered ten second half goals while scoring just three of their own as the 20^th-ranked team in NCAA Division III, the Babson College Beavers, would fire their way past the Golden Bears by a final score of 16-8.

Records:

• Western New England: 1-4
• No. 20 Babson College: 4-1

How it Happened:

Babson came away with the early chances in the first four minutes of the game, coming away with seven shots, two of which would be turned away by Jonathon Salsbury, four off target, and the last would find the back of the goal as Justin Greene picked up the opening goal of the game to give the Beavers a 1-0 lead. Babson would continue to threaten, but the Golden Bears would stay strong, not allowing the Beavers to score again. WNE would come away with three shots on goal in a minute, as Jack Sumala, Griffin LaRochelle, and Zachary Mein would all get opportunities, but Babson's Alex Fascilla would come up big between the pipes to keep WNE from scoring on the sequence. Western New England would finally break the goalless drought as Jack Houlden found the back of the net on an assist from Logan Jenkins, tying the game at one. Houlden would not be done there, scoring again with 2:55 left in the opening quarter, giving Western New England their first lead of the game, taking a 2-1 edge. Western New England continued to stay strong defensively while scoring again with just 16 seconds left in the quarter as Nicholas Campagnone found the back of the net on another assist from Jenkins, which gave the Golden Bears a 3-1 lead at the end of the opening quarter. In the first 15 minutes of the game, Babson outshot Western New England 15-12. Salsbury made four saves for the Golden Bears. Both teams were perfect on their clear attempts. 

The Beavers had the first goal of the second quarter as Seamus Rooney was able to find the back of the net. Western New England would not let the Beavers even the game from there, as Logan Jenkins was back on the scoresheet with a goal on an assist from Jack Gagnon, giving the Golden Bears a 4-2 lead. Three goals would be scored in a minute as Babson got back within one again. The Beavers would tie the game at four with 9:45 left as Cooper Chapman scored for the Beavers. A run of three straight for the visitors would have Babson on top 5-4 before Western New England would score again on a goal by Max Rudgers, tying the game at five with 3:47 left to play. Babson had the final goal of the second quarter and took a 6-5 lead at the half. Babson outshot WNE 10-8 in the quarter, Jonathon Salsbury made four saves for Western New England. WNE turned the ball over nine times to their deficit. 

Babson would outscore Western New England 5-2 in the third quarter and would begin to pull away from the Golden Bears. The Beavers would score two goals in 30 seconds and three goals in 1:10 to take a four-goal lead on the blue and gold, leading 9-5. With 8:03 left in the quarter, Western New England would come up with their sixth goal of the game and third overall from Jack Houlden, who picked up an assist from Logan Jenkins, his fourth point of the game, keeping WNE alive, looking to start a rally. Babson would quickly put an end to Western New England's rally, seeing Colt Bordonaro score with 7:37 left in the frame. Nicholas Campagnone scored next for the Golden Bears, again looking to keep Western New England within striking distance. Babson would have the final goal of the quarter, taking an 11-7 lead after the third quarter. Babson took ten shots overall, half of which found the back of the net. 

The Beavers would break the game wide open in the fourth quarter and would take down Western New England. Seamus Rooney, who led the Beavers in scoring, would have his fourth goal of the game at the 12:48 mark of the fourth quarter, giving Babson a 12-7 lead. Babson continued their scoring in the fourth quarter, scoring their 13^th goal before Western New England would pick up their eighth as James Wyrnn fired a goal past Alex Fascilla. The Beavers picked up the final three goals of the game and came around with a 16-8 win over Western New England. Babson outshot Western New England 14-11 in the frame. WNE turned the ball over six times. 

Inside the Lines:

• Logan Jenkins led Western New England with four points, a goal and three assists on the afternoon. Jenkins took four shots and three shots on goal in the game. 
• Jack Houlden led Western New England in scoring, firing home three goals on seven total shots. 
• Six different Golden Bears came up with caused turnovers on the afternoon. 
• Jonathon Salsbury came away with 15 saves but allowed all 16 Babson goals. 
• Seamus Rooney recorded right points for Babson, four goals and four assists, leading the Beavers in offense. 
• Camden Matthews scored twice and had an assist for Babson. 
• Tripp Clark led Babson defensively with three caused turnovers in the game to go along with seven ground balls. 
• Babson outshot WNE in the game 50-38. Babson picked up 32 ground balls and went 26/28 in clear attempts. 
• Western New England was doomed by their 24 turnovers in the game.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE will begin their spring break trip in Chester, Pennsylvania with an afternoon contest against Widener University on Wednesday, March 12 at 1:00 PM.