Barry Ties Single-Season Shutout Mark as Beavers Post Record 11th Shutout of the Season

BABSON PARK, Mass.—Junior Elise Towers (Cicero, N.Y.) and sophomore Catherine Gilman (Cohasset, Mass.) each finished with a goal and an assist as 10th-ranked Babson College defeated visiting MIT, 3-0, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) field hockey action on Saturday afternoon at MacDowell Field.

With its fifth straight win, Babson concludes the regular season at 17-2 overall and 8-0 in conference play. The Beavers, who clinched their sixth NEWMAC regular season title, have now finished unbeaten in league play four times since 2007. MIT slips to 11-4 overall and 6-2 in conference play.

Senior Staci Swallow (South Portland, Maine) added a goal and classmate Victoria Spofford (Merrimac, Mass.) chipped in with an assist for Babson. First-year goalkeeper Deirdre Barry (Longmeadow, Mass.) made two saves to match a single-season school record with her eighth shutout of the year. The Beavers, who allowed just one goal in eight NEWMAC matches, also set a new program record with their 11th shutout of the season.

First-year Kate Brewer (Louisville, Ky.) made three of her four saves in the second half for the Engineers.

Barry made consecutive saves on MIT juniors Amanda Lowery (Encinitas, Calif.) and Emily Penn (Columbia, Md.) just under eight minutes into the match and the Green and White took control of the game with two goals in the span of 34 seconds a little more than midway through the half. Gilman took a centering feed from Spofford, spun and drilled a shot inside the left post at the 21:33 mark, and then set up Towers' league-leading 18th goal of the year less than a minute later to make it 2-0.

The Beavers just missed on a number of opportunities to extend their advantage early in the second half. Swallow had her shot from the center of the circle kicked away by Brewer a little of three minutes after the break, and both Towers and sophomore Ashley Tango (Reading, Mass.) sent shots just wide following penalty corners.

Babson held the Engineers without a shot on four penalty corners over the final 13 minutes and tacked on an insurance goal with 6:49 left when Swallow redirected a crossing pass by Towers for a her 10th marker of the season.

The Beavers finished with a 15-4 edge in shots and a 7-5 advantage in penalty corners.

Babson will host the first of two NEWMAC Tournament semifinal contests next Saturday at MacDowell Field, while MIT must wait to see if earns the second or third seed for the upcoming championship.

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 25-15 all-time against MIT and have won three straight in the series.
•    Babson's 17 regular season wins are tied for the highest total in school history along with the 2003, 2005 and 2015 squads.
•    Saturday's contest marked the final regular season home game for Spofford, Swallow, and fellow seniors Kelsi McDougle (Hopedale, Mass.), Nicole Smith (Barrington, R.I.) and Corinne Urisko (Princeton, N.J.). This group has gone 57-24 over the last four years, good for the most wins in any four-year period since 2005.
•    The Beavers improved to 16-0 this season when scoring first.