MEN'S LAX HITS DAM AGAINST THE BEAVERS LOSING 13-11, Senior John Lightbown Continues To Dominate Netting Five

The Mustangs scored the opening six goals of the game but could not keep the momentum going while visitor Babson College came storming back to take the 13-11 victory this Wednesday. Mount Ida would drop their record to 5-4 overall and stay at a perfect 3-0 in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) while the Beavers improve to 2-7 on the season, 1-0 in the Pilgrim League.

The hosts would reel off the first six goals of the contest including two a piece by senior attack John Lightbown (Melrose, MA/Melrose) and junior midfielder Anthony DiMarsico (Fairport, NY/Fairport). After freshmen Paul Battapaglia (Clinton, CT/Morgan) and Matt Savage (Peabody, MA/Peabody) fired in a another two scores, the Mustangs would hold the 6-0 advantage with 1:59 left in the first quarter.

Unfortunately, the Beavers had other plans reeling off a quick three goals with 1:54 to go before the second stanza, netted by visiting juniors E.J. Petersen (Framingham, MA/Framingham), Matt Enright (Bristol, RI/Milton Academy), and senior Jason Wellemeyer (Pembroke, MA/Catholic Memorial) cutting the Mustang lead in half, 6-3.

Babson would pick up right where they left off in the opening 10 ticks of the second half with Bryan Wilbur (Hingham, MA/Phillips Exeter Academy) netting his first goal of four throughout the contest. The visitors would continue to dominate the offense reeling off two more goals by Petersen and Wilbur to knot the score at 6-6 going into the break.

It would continue to be all Babson for the bulk of the third quarter with Wellemeyer netting two more scores of his four in the game to stretch their advantage to 6-8. The Beavers would add one more score by junior Matt Harrington (Hanover, MA/Thayer Academy) taking the 6-9 lead with 2:30 remaining in the third set.

The Mustangs would finally start to get the ball rolling on another score by Savage going into the fourth quarter down 7-9. Babson would waste no time adding to their lead, getting two quick goals within four minutes by Wilbur and freshman Andrew Packer (Hudson, OH/Western Reserve Academy), extending their advantage to 11-7.

Mount Ida wouldn’t back down, tallying two, one off a rocket by Lightbown, and a bouncer by freshmanDan Harrington (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) cutting the lead to two only trailing 11-9. The teams would exchange scores for the remainder for the game with the Mustangs unable to make the late comeback ultimately taking the tough 13-11 loss, their fourth of the season.

The Beavers were led by Wilbur and Wellemeyer would net four a piece along with Peterson who would net three. The Mustangs saw another outstanding performance from Lightbown, tallying four as well along with Savage who followed with three of his own. Junior attack Brett Conley (Fairfield, CT/Fairfield Warde) recorded five assists, including two to Lightbown.

Mount Ida goaltender Matt Vernik (Bethany, CT/Amity Regional) would save nine shots between the pipes while the Beavers would change goaltenders at the half with Mike Saucier (Nashua, NH/Nashua) and Max Owen (Hamilton, NJ/Pennington Academy) stopping three shots combined.

The Mustangs will have an off weekend, starting back up at home on Monday, April 7th, against New England College with the opening face-off at 3:00 p.m.