Eaton's Four Goals Lead #11 Tufts Women's Lacrosse to Rout Over Babson

Kerry Eaton paced the Jumbos with four goals

BABSON PARK, MA - The #11 ranked Tufts University women's lacrosse team got four goals from junior Kerry Eaton (Norfolk, MA) and three goals and two assists from senior Kelly Hyland (Acton, MA) to help push them past Babson College, 18-6, in non-conference action this afternoon at MacDowell Field. The Jumbos got goals from 10 different scorers and used an eight-goal run late in the first half to pull away from the Beavers.

With the win, Tufts moves to 3-0 on the season, while Babson falls to 1-2.

The Beavers opened the scoring just 55 seconds into the game on sophomore Misha Beatty's (Westwood, MA) ninth goal of the season. Following Hyland's first goals for Tufts, Trisha Babson (Duxbury, MA) put Babson back in front with the first of her two goals at 25:49.  Sterling Champion (Lighthouse Point, FL) scored back-to-back goals for Tufts before Beatty netted her second goal of the game to pull the Beavers even at 3-3.

From there, the Jumbos took control, going on an 8-2 run over the final 16:26 of the first half to push their lead to 11-5 going into the break. Two straight tallies from Eaton just 16 seconds apart got the run going, and Gabby Horner (Allentown, NJ) scored the first of her two goals at the 15:15 mark to give Tufts a 6-3 advantage. Emma Locke (Boxford, MA) scored her second goal of the season at 12:32 to bring the Beavers within 6-4, but three straight free-position goals by Eaton, Annie Nero (Acton, MA) and Eliza Halmo (Brunswick, ME) helped Tufts build a 9-4 lead with 5:55 remaining in the first half.

Kate Applegate (Chadds Ford, PA) scored the Jumbos' fourth straight goal on an assist from Lara Kozin (Suffern, NY) before Babson's second tally pulled the Beavers within 10-5, but that is as close as they would get.

The Jumbos dominated the second half as Hyland and Kozin each scored twice helping them build their lead as large as 18-5 before Babson junior Taylor Kralovenec (Cos Cob, CT) added her second goal of the season with 44 second remaining for the final tally of the game. Eaton, Kaitlyn Leidl (Califon, NJ) and Lindsey Walker (Suffern, NY) also scored for Tufts.

Junior goalkeeper Tess Shapanka (Sudbury, MA) anchored the Tufts defense, which was superb all day, making five saves, before giving way to Rachel Gallimore (Hanover, NH), who made one save over the final nine minutes. Julie Baharestani (Syosset, NY) made six saves in goal for the Beavers, who were outshot 32-17 on the afternoon. Baharestani also collected a team-high three ground balls and caused two turnovers.

Tufts is back in action on Tuesday afternoon when they play Western Connecticut State University in Claremont, Florida. Babson is headed to Colorado Springs and will play Frostburg State on Monday afternoon in the first of two games during their spring break trip.

Game boxscore

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