Malone Becomes Just the Seventh Player In Program History To Surpass 100 Career Points In Win

BABSON PARK, Mass.—First-year Jessica Kelley (Lincoln, R.I.) had a goal and an assist, and senior Caroline Malone (Walpole, Mass.) became just the seventh player in program history to surpass 100 points as Babson College defeated Eastern Connecticut State University, 3-1, in non-conference field hockey action on Tuesday afternoon at MacDowell Field.

With its second consecutive win, Babson is now 5-3 overall, while Eastern Connecticut drops to 4-3 on the year.

The Warriors got on the board first as sophomore MaryKate Custer (South Windsor, Conn.) beat a defender and slipped the ball past Beavers' junior goalkeeper Kayla Costa (Watertown, Mass.) for a 1-0 lead at the 19:08 mark. Kelly tied it just over eight minutes later though, converting a feed from sophomore Kelsi McDougle (Hopedale, Mass.) following a penalty corner for her first career goal in the 28th minute.

After earning a pair of penalty corners early in the second half, the Green and White went ahead for good just 5:40 into the period on sophomore Staci Swallow's (South Portland, Maine) third goal of the year. After Malone's insert, Babson worked the ball to the right side of the arc where Kelly's centering pass was redirected by Swallow and inside the right post for a 2-1 advantage.

Eastern Connecticut sophomore goalkeeper Samanth Scavo (Redding, Conn.) made a pair of saves with just over 20 minutes remaining to keep the margin at one, but Malone gave the Beavers some breathing room with a blast from the top of the circle that made it through some traffic in front of the cage for a 3-1 edge with 16 minutes remaining in the contest. The Green and White made the lead stand up by blocking three shots and getting a pair of saves from Costa on scoring attempts by junior Hannah Keiser (Danbury, Conn.) over the final minutes to secure the victory.

Costa finished with three saves for Babson, while Scavo stopped eight shots, all in the second half, for the Warriors.

The Beavers held a 20-12 advantage in total shots and a 13-8 edge in penalty corners.

Babson will return to action on Friday when it travels to Springfield College at 4 p.m., while Eastern Connecticut will host Framingham State University on Saturday at 12 p.m.

GAME NOTES: Babson is now 9-0 all-time against Eastern Connecticut State in a series that dates back to 2003…with the 44th marker of her career, Malone is now fifth all-time in goals and sixth in career points with 101…the Beavers are 4-1 at home this season and have won six of their last seven games at MacDowell Field going back to last season…Babson is now 5-0 on the year when scoring three goals or more.