Women's Lacrosse at MIT | Saturday, March 26 | 12:00 p.m.
Jack Barry Field | Cambridge, Mass.
Women's Lacrosse vs. No. 12 Wesleyan | Sunday, March 27 | 1:00 p.m.
MacDowell Field | Babson Park, Mass.
BABSON: Roster | Schedule & Results | Stats
WESLEYAN: Roster | Schedule & Results | Stats
NEWMAC: Standings | Schedule & Results | Stats
IWLCA: Division III Poll
SERIES HISTORY
vs. MIT
• Babson and MIT will meet for the 40th time on Saturday afternoon in a series that dates back to 1988.
• The Beavers own a 34-5 record all-time against the Engineers. Two of the Engineer victories have come in the last six meetings (2015 and 2018).
• Saturday's encounter is the first between the two schools since 2019, as the games the last two years were canceled due to the pandemic.
vs. Wesleyan
• Babson is 6-10 all-time against Wesleyan in a series that dates back to 1994, and 4-3 against the Cardinals at MacDowell Field.
• The Beavers have dropped six straight games in the series and are looking for their first home win over the Cardinals since 2013.
• Babson and Wesleyan have played four games decided by a single goal although the Cardinals have won each of the last four contests by at least eight goals.
• Sunday's game is a continuation of the contest that began back on March 9, but was halted after five minutes due to snowy conditions on MacDowell Field.
LAST MEETING
vs. MIT
• Lexi Lenaghan '19 led all scorers with seven goals and visiting Babson built an eight-goal halftime lead on the way to defeating MIT, 18-12, in on April 10, 2019 at Jack Barry Field.
• Riley Buonagurio '19 finished with a career-high four goals, Juliana McGuire '21 scored twice, and junior Valerie Quinlan '21G contributed one goal, nine draw controls, three ground balls and two caused turnovers for the Beavers.
• McGuire added eight draws, while Georgia Salvatore '21 and Sara O'Connor '21 tied for game-high honors with three caused turnovers apiece. O'Connor also led Babson with five ground balls and Cricket Fligor '21 made six saves in the win.
• Cecilia McCormick '19, Eva Then and senior Naomi Lutz each scored three goals for the Engineers. Senior Ali Hoffman picked up six ground balls, classmate Katie Pelton caused three turnovers, and Hannah Adams made 13 saves in the loss.
vs. Wesleyan
• Abby Manning '20 tied for game-high honors with three goals as the fifth-ranked Cardinals defeated visiting Babson, 15-6, on March 4, 2020 at Smith Field in Middletown, Conn.
• Junior Erin Jayne scored three times, while Juliana McGuire '21, Sophia McCann '22 and junior Claudia Dodge each added a goal for the Beavers. Valerie Quinlan '20 won five draw controls, while Cricket Fligor '21 and Jane Cavanaro combined to make 11 saves in the loss.
• Emma Richards '20, Johnna Copeland '21 and junior Chessy Greenwald all scored twice, while Sydney Prokupek '21 added a goal and two assists to lead the Cardinals. Jordan Ansell '21 led all players with four ground balls and four caused turnovers, and Kate Balicki tied for game-high honors with five draw controls in the victory.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (2-3, 0-1 NEWMAC) is looking to snap a three-game losing streak against the toughest part of the schedule, including a pair of Top 10 teams and the NEWMAC opener against one of the strongest opponents in the conference.
• Visiting Babson recorded a season-high 17 caused turnovers in its most recent outing at Springfield last Saturday but was unable to rally from an early deficit in a 15-10 loss in the NEWMAC debut.
• Junior Courtney Kaskey and first-year Amelia Novitch both tallied two goals and Jayne contributed three assists to go along with three caused turnovers for the Beavers. Senior Gwen Borning led all players with five ground balls, sophomore Kayleigh Hacker tied for game-high honors with three caused turnovers and first-year goalie Kathleen Murphy stopped nine shots in the loss.
• Jayne (10-11-21) leads the team in scoring, while Dodge (8-3-11) is second and Novitch (10-0-10) and Kaskey (9-1-10) are tied for third. First-years Clare Connolly (17) and Michaela Downer (13) are the team leaders in draw controls, and Dodge tops the squad with 15 ground balls and nine caused turnovers.
SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS
• MIT (3-2, 1-0 NEWMAC) brings a two-game winning streak into Saturday's game after back-to-back wins over Mount Holyoke (18-6) last Saturday and Skidmore (13-11) on Tuesday.
• Junior Delaney Goetz paced the Engineers in the win over Skidmore with five points on one goal and four assists. First-year Julianne Flusche finished with three goals and two ground balls while classmate Sydney Pyon also posted a hat trick. Junior Ellie Rabenold filled up the stat sheer with nine draw controls, two goals, three groundballs, and two caused turnovers, and sophomore Meredith Arterburn contributed four draw controls and one goal.
• The Engineers have a balanced attack with four players scoring in double figures – Goetz (3-12-15), junior Lindsey Gambino (13-1-14), Pyon (11-2-13) and Arterburn (9-3-12). Rabenold has collected a whopping 26 draw controls and a team-high five caused turnovers and senior Kiely Smiga-McManus has scooped up a team-high 10 ground balls.
• MIT ranks fourth in the NEWMAC in team goals against average, allowing just 10.50 goals per game.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
• Wesleyan (5-1, 1-1 NESCAC), ranked 12th in this week's Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division III poll, is coming off a 12-5 non-conference victory Wednesday at home vs. Western Connecticut.
• The Cardinals held WestConn scoreless for 32+ minutes while scoring nine goals between the second and fourth quarters, handing the Colonials their first regular-season loss since March 7, 2020.
• Junior Olivia Lai led the way with four goals for Wesleyan, along with five ground balls and two caused turnovers. Sophomore Laura Baine posted three goals for her fifth hat trick of the season while junior Kate Balicki recorded three points (one goal, two assists) and classmate Kendall Mittleman tallied one goal and one assist.
• Baine leads the team with 32 points (17g, 15a), while Lai (20-1-21) and Mittleman (9-12-21) are also serious scoring threats. Graduate student Indigo Pellegrini de Paur is the team leader with 18 draw controls and 16 caused turnovers, and Lai has picked up a team-best 18 ground balls.
BEAVER STREAKS
• Kaskey and Novitch have each scored at least one goal in all five games this season.
• Jayne has recorded at least one point in all 15 of her games dating back to the start of her career in February of 2020.
BABSON IN NCAA STATS
• The Beavers are ranked 10th among 283 teams in Division III in free position percentage (.600).
• Dodge is ranked 11th in free position percentage (.800) and 15th in free position goals per game (1.60), and Jayne is ranked 42nd in assists per game (2.20).
TOUGH ROAD FOR THE BEAVERS
• Sunday's game vs. Wesleyan is the third Babson contest this month against nationally-ranked teams.
• The Beavers fell to then-No. 6 Middlebury (now No. 3), 16-5, on March 13, and put a scare against then-No. 3 Ithaca (now No. 4), 16-14, on March 16.
BABSON VS. THE NESCAC
• Sunday's contest is the second of three Babson games against teams from the NESCAC this season.
• In addition to Middlebury and Wesleyan, the Beavers will also face Williams on April 7 in Williamstown, Mass.
• Babson is looking for its first win against a NESCAC team since a 17-6 victory over Bates on March 6, 2019.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers have won their last 27 games when leading at halftime, including two this year, and are 32-1 when ahead at the break dating back to 2018.
• Babson has won 17 in a row, including two this year, when holding the opponent to 10 goals or fewer, and are 29-1 since the start of 2018.
• The Green and White are 40-6 in games against the NEWMAC going back to 2016, going 20-3 at home and 20-3 on the road.
UP NEXT
• The Beavers have a pair of home games coming up next week at MacDowell Field, hosting Framingham State in a non-conference tilt Wednesday at 4 p.m. and Clark in a NEWMAC affair Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
