Women's Lax Clinches Fourth Straight NEWMAC Regular Season Title With 18-5 Win Over MIT
BABSON PARK, Mass. – The Babson College women’s lacrosse team clinched its fourth consecutive New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season title on Tuesday, as the Beavers defeated visiting MIT Engineers, 18-5, at MacDowell Field. Babson, which entered the game ranked 10th in the nation by the IWLCA, improved to 11-3 overall and 5-0 in the NEWMAC, while MIT fell to 8-5 overall and 3-2 in league play.
With their 28th consecutive NEWMAC win, the Beavers earned the top seed and an opening round bye in next week’s conference tournament. Babson will now host the semifinals and finals on May 1 and 2 for the fourth straight season.
Senior captains Anna Collins (Winchester, Mass.) and Kaitlyn Pettengill (Hopkinton, Mass.) both made history in their final regular season home game, as both eclipsed the program’s all-time points record. Collins scored four goals and assisted two others to give her 262 points in her career, while Pettengill scored six goals to push her career points mark to 256 – tying the previous record held by Anita Martignetti ’08.
Babson put the game out of reach with an incredible first-half performance, as the Beavers outscored the visitors 13-0 in the opening 30 minutes. Pettengill netted five goals during that span, while junior goalie Sarah Macary (Woodbury, Conn.) stopped all nine shots that she faced in net. MIT would score the first two goals of the second half to make it 13-2, but the Beavers answered with three straight scores en route to the eventual 18-5 victory.
Sophomore Trisha Babson (Duxbury, Mass.) recorded two goals, three assists, and six draw controls for the Beavers while also winning 14 of 17 face-offs. Sophomore Erin Daley (Darien, Conn.) and first-year Taylor Kralovenec (Cos Cob, Conn.) netted two goals apiece, first-year Jamie Spang (Kennebunk, Maine) contributed one goal and two assists, and Macary finished with 10 saves in 46 minutes in net.
Along with Pettengill and Collins, Tuesday also marked the final collegiate home games for Babson senior captains Marissa Monaco (Quincy, Mass.) and Laura Bronner (Greenwich, Conn.). Monaco picked up one groundball in the win, while Bronner made two saves in 14 minutes in goal. Together, the senior quartet has now led Babson to a 57-12 record over four seasons - the most wins by any class in the 24-year history of the program.
MIT received two goals from junior Stephanie Leger (Vienna, Va.)
and one goal apiece from junior Erica Little (Sherborn, Mass.) and
first-year Laura Wacker (Brookline, N.Y.). Little also added one
assist for the Engineers, and sophomore goalie Allison Hamilos
(Medfield, Mass.) made 15 saves in net.
