Owls Lacrosse Season Ends In NCAA Tournament; Babson Snaps Westfield's 11-Game Win Streak

WATERVILLE, Maine –   Babson College's Emily Curtis scored eight goals and handed out five assists as the Beavers posted a 23-8 win over Westfield State in the opening round of the NCAA Division III women's lacrosse tournament at Bill Alfond Field at Colby College.

Babson (13-7) advances to face host #12 Colby College on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

Westfield State's season comes to an end with a 14-6 overall record, as the Beavers snapped the Owls 11-game winning streak.

Babson ran out to an early 3-0 lead in the first 2:05 of the game, winning the first three draws of the match and setting up in the offensive zone.

Westfield answered with a free position goal from Emma Cretella (Cheshire, Conn./St. Paul's)  on a bounce shot, then on the next possession Cretella went straight to the gal to tally her second of the game and trim the lead to 3-2 with 11:57 left in the first quarter.

From there, Babson closed the first quarter with a 7-0 run to take command of the game.

Curtis, a 5-10 grad student, scored back-to-back goals to boost the Babson lead to 7-2 with 3:19 left.

"She's quick, she's athletic, she has a great first and second step, we threw a couple different players at her but she did a great job," said Westfield State head coach Jeff Pechulis.

Curtis tacked on her fourth goal of the quarter with 27 seconds left in the first to give the Beavers a 10-2 lead after the first quarter.

"They had a nice strategy, we were prepared for them and knew what they had offensively, but one thing we didn't adjust to well was that they backed up, and we stepped forward some, but they picked up a head of steam and blew doors past us, and we weren't able to keep pace with them once they entered the eight (meter fan)," said Pechulis. "We put a lot of pressure on our goalie.  She's a great goalie, had a fantastic year , and we could have stood in front of her a little bit better."

The Beavers onslaught continued in the second quarter, with Erin Jayne scoring the first two goals of the period to get the clock into running time with a 12-2 Beavers' lead with 13:54 left in the half.

Cassidy Harvey (Niskayuna, N.Y.) scored back-to-back goals for the Owls midway through the quarter, and Nicole Rinkus (Pembroke, Mass.) added a goal with 26 seconds left in the half to cut the Beavers' lead to 17-5 at the half.

The Beavers out shot Westfield 25-8 in the first half.

With running time in the second half, Cretella and Harvey each added their third goals of the game for Westfield, and Natalie DeMaio (Westwood, Mass.)( scored an empty-net free position goal with 6:30 left in the fourth after she was checked hard by Babson goalie Kathleeen Murphy as DeMaio tried to make a catch in the middle of the fan.   Murphy was sent behind for the DeMaio's free position try, leaving the net wide open for the Owls' seventh goal of the game.

Cretella and Harvey led Westfield with three goals each. Rinkus and DeMaio each finished with one.

Kara Banagan (Niskayuna, N.Y.) made three saves in goal for the Owls in the first half.  Sydney Smith (Dalton, Mass./Wahconah)entered for the second half and was credited with four saves.

Kathleen Murphy made six saves for Babson.

Claudia Dodge added four goals and Jayne three as eight different players scored for the Beavers.

Westfield was making its fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament.  The Owls won first round games in 2017 and 2018.

"We just talked about it after the game, we're champions and that's what got us here," said Pechulis. "We had talked about the three different ways this game could go – big win, big loss, really close game.  The one we really didn't want is the one that happened, but you know what, we got here, and that's the biggest thing.  We also focused on coming here and having fun, knowing what was ahead of us, we prepared hard, and our players are leaving the field with their heads held high.  It was a tough game, but they never quit – and they'll be back."