BABSON PARK, MA – Lesley University (15-5-1) men's soccer fell to host Babson College (16-2-3) in the Lynx First Round of the NCAA Tournament game, 5-1, Saturday afternoon at a windy Hartwell-Rodgers Field.

            Lesley jumped on Babson in the first two minutes to take the game's first lead. At 2:01, Ari Sinanis (Guilford, CT/Guilford) put back a long Jordan Santos (Middlebury, CT/Pomperaug) shot that sailed all the way to the goal, hitting the crossbar and bouncing right to an opportunistic Sinanis, who headed the carom into the right corner of the net.

            Although the Lynx pounced out in front early, the No. 11-ranked Beavers made sure the lead didn't last long. At 3:39, Ayo Iwuagwu (Lagos, Nigeria) cleaned up amid a pile-up in front of the net for his fifth goal of the season. A Mike Fisher (Longmeadow, MA) cross chased goalkeeper Max Perkins (Lexington, MA/Lexington) to his left, but he deflected the ball to Iwagwua, who capitalized inside the right post.

            Following a wild four minutes to open the game, play settled down in the 41 to follow. An up-and-down half saw the Beavers outshoot Lesley 10-3, but sending only four shots on goal to the Lynx two.

            Babson's advantage in shots finally paid off early in the second. At 55:02, Jimmy Sento (Needham, MA) fed leading scorer Eric Anderson (Scituate, MA), who sent a header inside the right post in which Sinanis scored 53 minutes prior.

            Anderson started an onslaught of late insurance goals for Babson with a penalty kick goal at 80:10. After an illegal takedown called against Lesley's Christian Domingo (Granada Hills, CA/Delphi) on the Beavers Brenden Matthews, Anderson beat Perkins inside the lower right corner.

            At 84:11, Iwuagwu added his second of the game off a feed from Thomas Elbling (Porra Alegre, Brazil), striking a one-timer inside the top left corner. Fisher added his own goal after stealing the ball from Perkins at the top of the keeper box, making it a 5-1 final.  

            Babson outshot Lesley 21-5 on the game, with Perkins making a game-high four saves. The Beavers advance to take on the winner of this afternoon's St. Joseph's (ME) and Trinity (CT) contest at 1:30 tomorrow at 1:00.

            In addition to the program's inaugural NCAA Tournament appearance, the Lynx tied a program with 15 wins. Lesley's Ali Sozeri led the New England Collegiate Conference in goals (19) and points (39).