No. 2 Field Hockey vs. Springfield
Thursday, November 2 | 6:30 p.m.
MacDowell Field | Babson Park, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson owns a slim 19-18 lead against Springfield in the all-time series that dates back to 1996.
• The Beavers have won 14 in a row over the Pride, including the last seven encounters by at least three goals. Springfield captured the first 11 games between the two sides from 1996-2004.
• The Green and White have won the last eight games at MacDowell Field since Springfield's last win in Babson Park in 2012.

POST-SEASON HISTORY VS. SPRINGFIELD
• Thursday's game will be the ninth meeting between Babson and Springfield in the NEWMAC Tournament, with each of the previous eight taking place at MacDowell Field.
• The Beavers have won four in a row and five of the eight tourney games, including a 7-3 victory in 2017 and a 6-1 verdict in 2019 following one-goal triumphs in 2010, 2013 and 2014.
• Springfield captured the first two games in 2005 and 2007 and its most recent win was in 2012 by a score of 6-3.

LAST MEETING
• Graduate student Sinead Walsh and junior Jessica Evans scored two goals apiece as No. 2 Babson extended its winning streak to eight games with a 5-1 victory over Springfield on October 14, 2023, at Stagg Field in Springfield.
• Graduate student Brianne McGrath also scored for the Green and White in the win. Junior Berit Sharrow picked up a pair of assists and Evans, junior Camille Marsh and senior Andrea Marguerite added one assist each for the Beavers. Junior Bayla Furmanek made a pair of saves to earn the win in goal.
• First-year Hailey Gaydos scored the lone goal for the Pride in the third quarter to break up the shutout. Senior Remy Niland had a busy day in goal and finished with nine saves.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Second-ranked and top-seeded Babson (18-1, 9-0 NEWMAC) brings a 12-game winning streak into the tournament following a 9-0 rout of Mount Holyoke in the regular season finale last Saturday in South Hadley, Mass.
• Graduate student Jackie Hill scored a career-high four goals and Marsh added a pair of scores in the win. Evans tallied a goal and an assist while Sharrow and sophomore Laney Reed notched one goal apiece. Furmanek made three saves to register her ninth shutout of the season.
• Marsh (16-5-37), Walsh (14-7-35) and McGrath (13-7-33) give Babson three players with at least 30 points for the first time since 2010 and just the third time in program history (2006). Hill (11-0-22) and sophomore Caroline DiGiovanni (10-0-20) give the Beavers five double-digit goal scorers. Evans (7-9-23) and graduate student Meara Hanyon (4-9-17) are tied for second in the conference in assists.
• Furmanek (18-1, 0.69 GAA, .790 sv. pct) has started every game over the past two seasons and leads the NEWMAC in goals against average and shutouts (10).

SCOUTING THE PRIDE
• Fifth-seeded Springfield (10-9, 4-5 NEWMAC) brings a five-game winning streak into Thursday's semifinal after Tuesday's 3-1 victory over fourth-seeded Smith in a quarterfinal matchup in Northampton, Mass.
• Sophomore Audrey Hayes notched a pair of goals in Tuesday's win and senior Audrey Dolan scored the game-winner. Niland made three saves to help Springfield secure a spot in the conference semifinals for the first time since 2019.
• Graduate student Kaitlin Bardellini (16-9-41) and Gaydos (15-1-31) have accounted for 31 of the Pride's 47 goals on the season. Bardellini is in the top three in the NEWMAC in all three offensive categories. Junior Camryn Morano (4-1-9) is third on the team in goals and Dolan (2-4-8) and senior Emma McLaughlin (2-4-8) are tied for second in assists.
• Niland (1.94 GAA, .718 sv. pct.) has started 11 games for the Pride, including the last nine, while junior Neilee Hess (2.48 GAA, .780 sv. pct.) has started eight times. Junior defenders Mary Collins (4) and Claire Munkacsi (3) have combined for seven defensive saves.

BABSON IN THE POST-SEASON
• The Beavers earned the top seed in the NEWMAC Tournament for the eighth consecutive season going back to 2015.
• Babson claimed the 2010, 2016, 2021 and 2022 NEWMAC Tournament championships and has played in the title game five times in six seasons going back to 2016.
• The Beavers, who are 6-6 in the semifinal round going back to 2010, have played their last 12 conference playoff games at home since 2015.

NEWMAC HISTORY
• Babson owns a 59-game NEWMAC regular season winning streak going back to 2015.
• The Green and White have won 29 straight games overall vs. NEWMAC opponents since start of the 2021 season.
• The Beavers outscored conference opponents 55-5 in nine games this fall.

WEEKLY HONORS
• With her seven goals in two games last week, Hill was named the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division III Offensive Player of the Week on Wednesday, the second Babson player to earn the honor this season, following Marsh on September 27.
• Hill and Furmanek received NEWMAC Offensive and Defensive Athlete of the Week honors on Monday, giving the Beavers seven different players who earned conference weekly honors this season (Marguerite, Walsh, Marsh, Sharrow, Furmanek, McGrath, Hill).

FRIENDLY CONFINES
• The Green and White are 10-0 this season on home turf and have won 34 of their last 38 games at MacDowell Field.
• The Beavers are 75-16 at home since the start of the 2015 season.

BUSY BEAVERS
• Marsh has collected points in six of her last eight games, totaling eight goals and two assists for 18 points in that span.
• Walsh has registered points in seven of her last nine games, accumulating nine goals and two assists for 20 points in that stretch.
• McGrath had a six-game point streak in October, tallying six goals and five assists from October 3-21.

STIFLING DEFENSE
• The Babson defense, anchored by Sharrow, Hanyon, graduate student Daniela Parrado-Nazal and sophomore Sanne van der Goes, has allowed just 13 goals in 19 games this season, the fewest in the NEWMAC.
• The Beavers have surrendered just five goals in their current 12-game winning streak.
• Since the start of the 2018 campaign, the Green and White are 82-2 when holding the opponents to no more than one goal.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson has won 51 games in a row when leading at halftime, dating back to 2021.
• The Beavers have lost just once in their last 54 outings when scoring the first goal of the game.

UP NEXT
• The winner of Thursday's semifinal will face either second-seeded MIT or third-seeded WPI in Saturday's NEWMAC championship game.