Worcester State Drops Home Opener to No. 16 Babson College

WORCESTER, Mass.—The Worcester State University Lancers dropped their home opener 9-1 to the nationally ranked No. 16 Babson College Thursday night at Coughlin Memorial Field.

Pitching in two goals apiece were Babson players Elise Towers (Cicero, N.Y.), Jacki Merrigan (Canton, Mass.), and Ashley Tango, (Reading, Mass.). Sophomore Lauren Drakeley (Woodbury, Conn.) contributed a game-high of four assists throughout the competition.

Babson College took the lead early in the first half, as Tango scored five minutes in following a penalty corner from teammate Drakeley. The Beavers scored their second goal just four minutes later in a similar way, when Tango received another pass after a second penalty corner, and fired it across the goal. The Beavers continued to dominate in the first half scoring four additional unanswered goals.

In the second half, the Lancers played solid defense, keeping the Beavers offense at bay until the last 17 minutes of play. While the Beavers were able to score three more goals in the second half, the Lancers spoiled the shut-out with only 30 seconds remaining in the game. Worcester State's Michaila Parent (Westborough, Mass.) had a breakaway down the middle when she made a quick pass to teammate Katelyn Santos (Acushnet, Mass.) who scored the lone goal for the Lancers.

Worcester State's goalie Kathryn Salemme (Acton, Mass.) made five saves each half, totaling 10 saves for the night. Babson's starting goalie, Deirdre Barry (Longmeadow, Mass.) earned the win in 46:10 minutes of play.

The Beavers outshot the Lancers 26-2 and outnumbered Worcester State 21-0 in penalty corners. With the loss, the Lancers fall 0-1 overall and the Beavers improve to 1-0.

Babson College will resume action on Saturday, September 3^rd at 12:00 pm at Skidmore College. The Lancers will face off at Bates College at 5:00 pm on Tuesday September 6^th.

Release by Alyssa Hill | Sports Information Graduate Assistant