BABSON PARK, Mass. -- Senior co-captain Jess Paladino (Turner, ME) scored three goals and assisted two others for a career-high eight points to lift the Babson College field hockey team to a 7-2 win over visiting Bridgewater State College in the Beavers' home opener at MacDowell Field on Tuesday night.
With the victory, Babson improved to 4-2 on the year, while Bridgewater State fell to 4-1 with its first loss of the 2009 season.
Paladino wasted little time in giving Babson the lead, as she scored off a cross from junior co-captain Colleen Kelly (Milton, MA) just 1:47 into the contest. She then made it 2-0 off a penalty corner push from sophomore Kim Calhoun (Holliston, MA) at 12:34, and first-year Kelly Walsh (Gardner, Mass.) and junior Sarah Fredlund (New Preston, CT) each added unassisted tallies later in the period as the hosts took a commanding 4-0 lead into halftime.
The Beavers continued their onslaught early in the second half, as Paladino assisted sophomore Courtney Weaving (New Preston, CT) on a goal at 40:20. Bridgewater State junior Nicole Henrique (Swansea, MA) then put her team on the board with a goal from classmate Bethany Bush (Littleton, MA) at 64:48, but Paladino notched her third goal of the game off another Kelly feed to make it 6-1 just 32 seconds later.
Henrique netted her second of the night off her own rebound at the 66-minute mark to cut the Bears' deficit back to four, but Paladino assisted Fredlund on a nice 2-on-1 break to finish off the 7-2 Babson victory. The eight points was the most of Paladino's career and it was the second-highest single-game output in program history behind only Elise Conley's 10-point effort on September 9, 2004 - also against Bridgewater State.
Sophomore goalie Jess Pashos (Winchester, MA) finished with five saves without allowing a goal in 52 minutes of stellar play for Babson, with two of her stops coming on breakaways. Senior Emily Cohen (West Grove, PA) played the final 18 minutes and made one save for the Beavers, while junior Katie Weber (Arlington, MA) stopped 13 shots in net for the Bears.