BABSON PARK, MASS. —
Senior Dustin Miller (Tyler, Tex.) had 12 saves as Coast Guard men's lacrosse was overwhelmed by top-seeded Babson College Thursday night with a final score of 19-4. The Beavers entered the week ranked #4 by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) and #8 by USA Lacrosse Magazine.
This game did not start lopsided as the teams went back and forth in the first quarter. Babson found the back of the net first, 2 minutes and 39 seconds in the contest. A few minutes later, the Bears tied the game at 1 goal a piece as sophomore Ezekiel Christian (Stonington, Conn.) assisted junior Jack Elgas (San Diego, Calif.). Both offenses started out cold with several turnovers for both sides. With 3:26 remaining in the first, the Beavers retook the lead and would end the quarter up 2-1.
The flood gates opened in the second quarter, as Babson scored 6 goals while holding Coast Guard scoreless. The Bears turned the ball over 8 times in the quarter, giving the Beavers more opportunities to score. Going into halftime, Coast Guard found themselves in a big hole down 8-1.
Babson continued their offensive steamroll in the third quarter, scoring the first 3 goals in the first 3 minutes of the quarter. Coast Guard did manage to squeeze one past the Beavers' goalie as Christian scored on a pinpoint pass from freshman Liam Miller (Radnor, Pa.). The Beavers stopped any chance of a comeback by adding 3 more goals to their lead before the end of the quarter. Babson led 14-2 going into the final 15 minutes of play.
Senior Patrick Smith (Leesburg, Va.) scored his 26th goal of the season 2 minutes and 34 seconds into the final quarter. Turnovers continued for Coast Guard in the fourth quarter, 33 total turnovers for the night which led to being outshot 58-24. Babson went on to score 4 unanswered goals in less than 4 minutes apart. Following a save by Miller, he decided to take it the length of the field himself and got a shot on net but could not beat Andrew Almquist. The Beavers scored once more with less than a minute left in the contest.
As the Bears' season came to an unfortunate end, they finished the season with a 5-10 overall record and 3-4 in NEWMAC play. Babson will move on to face MIT in the NEWMAC final as they improve to 15-2 and 7-0 in NEWMAC.
