MIT Women's Lacrosse Falls to Babson, 10-7, in NEWMAC Semifinals

Recap courtesy of MIT

BABSON PARK, Mass. – A five-goal burst at the start of the second half proved to be the difference as No. 1 seed Babson College went on to defeat No. 4 MIT, 10-7, in the semifinals of the NEWMAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament on Saturday afternoon. Junior Hannah Levy (Yardley, Pa.) tallied two goals, one assist, three groundballs, and two caused turnovers for the Engineers who finished the year with a 12-6 ledger.

Sophomore Emily Young (La Jolla, Calif.) also posted two goals and one assist for MIT as classmate Katie Notarangelo (Foxboro, Mass.) generated one goal, four draw controls, and two caused turnovers. Senior Rachel Weinberg (Manassas, Va.) collected four draw controls while sophomore Jacqueline Simmons (Houston, Texas) racked up four groundballs and two caused turnovers. Senior Christine Jiang (Canton, Mich.) finished with three groundballs and three draw controls as sophomore Eva Boal (Princeton Junction, N.J.) tallied 12 saves, four groundballs, and two caused turnovers.

Babson gradually built a 4-1 advantage during the first 16:29 of play as Young's free-position strike put the Engineers on the board midway through the spurt. The visitors replied with another free-position goal from Young at the 12:34 mark which was followed by a solo effort by Notarangelo six minutes later, narrowing the gap to 4-3 heading into halftime.

Coming out of the break the Beavers strung together five unanswered goals, increasing their margin to 9-3 with 16:54 on the clock. Moments after the draw Levy found Weinberg for the Cardinal and Gray's first goal of the second half while Levy buried an unassisted marker with just under 10 minutes remaining. Babson quickly extended its lead; however, MIT countered with back-to-back goals to trim the deficit to 10-7. Levy converted a free-position attempt as freshman Cecilia McCormick (Islip, N.Y.) redirected a feed from Young with 4:18 left to play.

Weinberg came up with the ensuing draw control, which resulted in a shot by McCormick that hit the crossbar and a blast by Levy that was saved. The Beavers retained possession during the final three minutes to secure its ninth NEWMAC Championship appearance in the last 10 years.