Springfield, Mass. – April 2, 2011 – The Springfield College menÂ's lacrosse team opened Pilgrim Lacrosse League play with a 18-6 win over Babson on Saturday afternoon at Stagg Field.

The Pride improved to 5-3 on the season and 1-0 in conference play as the Beavers fell to 4-5 overall, including an 0-1 mark in the league.

Jarrid Johnson, Harry Bernstein, and Mike Delia all recorded hat tricks for Springfield, helping the Pride to its highest goal total of the season. Shawn Runyon, Austin Orsini, and Parker Geane also contributed to the attack with two goals apiece.

Tom Mallon led the scoring for Babson with two goals, while Alex Patinkin chipped in a goal and an assist. James Whalen was charged with the loss in 45 minutes of work as he allowed 15 goals while making seven saves. Backup Ryan Lee made seven saves in the final quarter of play.

Springfield dominated the major statistical categories through the dayÂ's contest. The Pride outshot Babson 50-28, with goalie Connor Nash stopping nine Beaver attempts to get the win. Springfield also held a 57-24 advantage in ground balls and won 23-28 face-offs. Both categories were controlled by Mike Eaton, who won 15 of his 17 face-off attempts and grabbed 13 ground balls. Christian Ebert led the way in ground balls for Babson, tallying five on the afternoon.

Springfield set the tone early as Delia converted a Runyon feed 37 seconds into the contest. The Beavers answered back on a very rare goal. With SpringfieldÂ's goalie out of the net covering a Babson attackman on the PrideÂ's ride, Ebert lobbed a shot from 70 awards away that found the back of the net.

From there, Springfield poured on five unanswered strikes to take a 6-1 lead after 15 minutes of play. Five different players scored in the run for Springfield as Johnson, Bernstein, Runyon, Delia, and Geane all netted strikes for the hosts.

Both teams scored three times in the second quarter as the squads went into the half with the score 9-6.

After the break, the Pride came out firing in the third quarter, outscoring Babson 6-1 in the frame. Springfield extended its lead to 15-5 behind two goals apiece from Johnson and Bernstein, and goals from Geane and Orsini. Andrew Packer added the lone goal in the quarter for the visitors.

The scoring spree slowed down in the final frame as Springfield added three more goals and Babson managed to put just one more passed the Pride goalie. Runyon, Shane Ferguson, and Max Wildes closed the game with goals for Springfield Tom Mallon added the final tally for the visiting Beavers.

Springfield will return to non-conference action when it takes on cross-town rival Western New England on Tuesday at 4:00 pm.