SPRINGFIELD, Mass.— Sophomore goalie Haley Moody (Wells, Maine) made a season-high 15 saves and top-seeded Springfield College outscored second-seeded Babson College 5-0 over a 25-minute span to start the second half to pull out an 8-6 victory over the Beavers in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's lacrosse championship game Saturday afternoon at Stagg Field.

With the victory, the Pride posted their fifth straight victory to improve to 14-5 overall and earned the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. Babson had its eight-game winning streak snapped and winds up its season at 13-6.

The Pride captured their eighth NEWMAC title and first since 2019. Springfield and Babson have met in the past six championship games and 11 of the past 13.

Junior Erin Jayne (Merrimac, Mass.) scored two goals to lead the Beaver offense, and classmates Claudia Dodge (Pelham, N.Y.) and Anna Katherine Sypniewski (Vero Beach, Fla.), sophomore Nicole Darveau (Sudbury, Mass.) and first-year Amelia Novitch (Dover, Mass.) scored one each. Dodge and senior Brooke Leveillee (Longmeadow, Mass.) produced three caused turnovers apiece, Dodge collected three draw controls, and sophomore Kayleigh Hacker (Natick, Mass.) scooped up four ground balls. First-year goalie Kathleen Murphy (Scarborough, Maine) made 11 saves, tied for second-most in a game this season.

Graduate student Jade O'Connor (Baltimore, Md.) tallied three goals and two assists for the Pride, while senior Katie Martel (Hartland, Conn.) scored two goals, sophomore Maddie Roy (Wilbraham, Mass.) added a goal and an assist, and sophomore Karen Joy (South Windsor, Conn.) and junior Arielle Johnson (Woodstock, Conn.) scored once each. Graduate student Katie Campbell (Somers, N.Y.) made an impact with 10 draw controls, junior Allison Delmonte (Bridgewater, Mass.) caused three turnovers and grabbed three ground balls.

After O'Connor gave the Pride the lead 32 seconds into the game, Sypniewski and Jayne scored the next two goals to give Babson the lead. Martel answered right away to tie things up at 2-2 before Jayne buried her second goal late in the frame to put the Beavers up 3-2 after one.

Defenses tightened up in the second quarter with each team scoring just one goal apiece, O'Connor for Springfield early in the stanza and Novitch with 25 seconds on the clock to give the visitors a 4-3 lead at the intermission.

All of the scoring in the third quarter belonged to the Pride, with four different players finding the back of the net. Johnson scored Springfield's final goal with 9:39 remaining in the fourth quarter to put the Pride up 8-4. Babson made a comeback attempt as Darveau put in a free position shot with five minutes to play and Dodge scored an unassisted tally with 2:19 remaining, but the clock ran out on the Beaver comeback.

Babson finished with a 29-21 margin in shots and a 16-12 advantage in ground balls, while Springfield won 14 of the 18 draws. The Beavers were good on 20 of 24 clear attempts while the Pride converted 18 of 20 clear attempts.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is 20-21 all-time against Springfield in a series that dates back to 1997.
• Eight of the last 12 contests between the two schools have been decided by just one or two goals.
• The Green and White lost for the first time in 13 games this season when leading at halftime, breaking a streak of 37 straight wins when ahead at the break.
• The Beavers lost for the first time in 11 games this season when holding the opponent to 10 goals or fewer, stopping a string of 25 straight wins when limiting the opponent to single-digit goals.