Strong First Half Propels Men’s Lacrosse Past Western New England, 17-11

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.—Senior Chi Chi Price (Hingham, Mass.) Babson College’s game-high five goals, including three in the first quarter, helped Babson College to take a 6-1 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 12-2 advantage by the halftime break. This was in non-conference men’s lacrosse action at Golden Bear Stadium.

Babson won its second consecutive contest to improve to 3-1 season. Western New England, which was 15-6 in the NCAA Tournament last year, lost its third straight contest and fell to 1-3.

Student in graduate program Ryan Kenney (Hingham, Mass.) Four goals scored and an assist were added for the Beavers, senior Matt Stucchi (Rexford N.Y.), graduate student, scored three goals in his season-opening appearance. Will Spangenberg (Dover, Mass.) Chipped in with two goals, and junior Topher Bower (Chicago Ill.), received four assists. Junior Grey Sunderland (Bellevue) won nine ground balls in a game, the highest total for a Washington team. Senior Will Parducci In the win, (Manhattan Beach Beach, Calif.) recorded a record 18 saves in goal.

Mike Bannon, a graduate student, was the leader of the Golden Bears, scoring four goals and providing an assist. Dylan Hanley, a senior from New Fairfield, Conn., had two goals and two assists. Zachary Mein, a sophomore from Latham (N.Y.), added two goals to the team’s loss. Chris Catuosco, a first-year student from Commack, N.Y., won 11 of 17 faceoffs, and picked up seven ground balls. Jonathon Salsbury, a sophomore from Bel Air, Md., was second. Finished with 10 saves.

Two minutes into the game Mein gave the hosts an early lead of 1-0. Babson then scored 12 consecutive goals for Babson over the next 25 minute, one in each quarter to take the contest by storm. Price scored three in the first half, Stucchi scored two and Kenney added one. Spangenberg, junior, made it 6-1 after one. Connor Karsh (Glenview, Ill.), Kenney, first-year Bennett Smith (Lake Oswego in Oregon, sophomore Riley Shaw Price and (Duluth Ga.), added goals to the second frame to make the score 12-1. Hanley scored the Golden Bears’ man-up goal with 30 seconds left in the second half to break the drought. Babson led 12-2.

WNEU scored the first three goals of the third quarter. However, Babson was able to score two more goals through Kenney, Stucchi, and Spangenberg, making it 16-4 at the end of three. Although the Golden Bears were able to score six goals, the deficit was too much for them. With 4:34 left, Price scored the final Babson goal and Bannon completed the scoring in the last minute.

The Green and White had a 46 to 38 advantage in shots, while the hosts won ground ball battle 32 to 29 and won 18 of the 31 faceoffs. Babson succeeded on 18 of the 20 clear attempts, while holding WNEU at 16 of 23.

The Beavers will be opening their 2023 New England Women’s & Men’s Athletic Conference(NEWMAC) slate Saturday, March 18. Coast Guard will also be visiting for a 1 p.m. gameup. WNEU will be able to keep pace Tuesday against No. 14 USILA/10 Inside Lacrosse Bowdoin in Tampa, Fla.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is 13-14 all-time against Western New England in a series that dates back to 1987, although Sunday’s meeting was the first since 2007. This was the Beavers first win in the series, dating back to 2001.
• The Beavers have scored at least 17 goals in back-to-back games for the first time a 20-2 win over Wheaton and a 21-5 victory over Emerson on April 10 and 17, 2021.
• Stucchi has recorded at least one point in 18 consecutive games dating back to the beginning of last season.
• The Green and White are 16-1 since the start of the 2020 campaign when leading at halftime.