Beavers advance to national quarterfinals for third straight season
BABSON PARK, Mass.— Graduate student
Jackie Hill (Franklin, N.H.) scored the game-winning goal seven minutes into overtime as No. 2 Babson College outlasted No. 7 Bates College, 1-0, in an NCAA Tournament second round field hockey contest Saturday afternoon at chilly MacDowell Field.
With the win, the Beavers posted their 15th consecutive victory to improve to 21-1 overall while the Bobcats had their best season in program history ended with a 13-6 record. Babson advances to the national quarterfinals for the third straight year and will host No. 10 Tufts on Sunday at 1 p.m. as the Jumbos advanced with a 2-1 triumph over No. 16 Rowan.
In a game dominated by defense, each team managed just four shots overall and one shot on goal. Babson junior goalie
Bayla Furmanek (State College, Pa.) made the only save of the day, kicking out a shot by junior Anna Lindeis (New Canaan, Conn.) on a penalty corner early in the third quarter.
The Beavers were awarded three penalty corners in the opening frame but a strong Bobcat defense permitted just one shot by graduate student
Brianne McGrath (Newmarket, Ontatrio), but it was blocked before reaching the goal.
Babson had four penalty corners in the second quarter but were unable to get off any shots. Bates got its first corner late in the second stanza but a shot by junior Anna Cote (Auburn, Maine) went wide. Both teams killed off a green card issued to a player and Babson nearly broke the scoreless deadlock with 10 seconds remaining, but a goal was called off after it was ruled the ball went off a Beaver foot.
After Furmanek's save on a shot following a penalty corner in the third frame, Babson was denied on a pair of penalty corners and had to kill off another green card. Both teams got two penalty corners in the fourth quarter, Bates early on and the Green and White shortly thereafter, but to no avail, and the teams went to overtime with a scoreless deadlock.
A Babson player was assessed a yellow card less than two minutes into overtime and the Beavers were forced to play five minutes down a player. Just 30 second after returning to 7-on-7 play, junior
Berit Sharrow (Denver, Colo.) sent a ball from the right side into the attacking circle, and Hill redirected the ball past the goalie just inside the left goalpost for the game-winner.
Total shots in the game were tied at 4-4, with each team recording just one shot on goal. Babson ended up with a 12-4 advantage in penalty corners.
GAME NOTES
• Babson won its fifth straight game against Bates and now have a 13-12 lead in the all-time series that dates back to 2022.
• The Green and White are 2-0 this season against Bates, having defeated the Bobcats 3-2 back on September 13.
• Hill has scored a goal in two straight games and five of her last six outings, totaling 10 goals in that span.
• Furmanek tied the program single-record of 21 victories held by Cassidy Riley '22 set in 2021 and equaled the mark of 12 shutouts held by Deirdre Barry '20 set in 2016. She moved up to second in program history with 20 career shutouts, two shy of Riley's mark of 22 from 2018-21.
• The Green and White are 13-0 this season on home turf and have won 37 of their last 41 games at MacDowell Field.
