BABSON PARK, Mass.— Junior Jessica Evans (Southbury, Conn.) scored the only goal of the game early in the second quarter and junior goalie Bayla Furmanek (State College, Pa.) made one save as the No. 2 Babson College field hockey team pulled out a 1-0 victory over No. 10 Tufts University in an NCAA Tournament quarterfinal contest Sunday afternoon at MacDowell Field.

With the win, the Beavers posted their 16th consecutive victory to improve to 22-1 and earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament Final Four for the second time in program history and first time since 2016. Tufts completed a successful season and ended up with a 13-6 overall record.

In another game dominated by defense, Babson had a 7-2 advantage in shots, including 6-1 in shots on goal. Graduate student Sinead Walsh (Port Elizabeth, South Africa) recorded an assist, and the tenacious Beaver defense was led by graduate students Meara Hanyon (Brodheadsville, Pa.) and Daniela Parrado-Nazal (Santiago, Chile), juniors Berit Sharrow (Denver, Colo.) and Ellie Powers (Bethlehem, Pa.), and sophomore Sanne van der Goes (Glenview, Ill.).

Sophomore goalie Lydia Eastburn (New Hope, Pa.) had a solid performance in the Tufts goal and finished with four saves. She was supported by a strong group of defenders in front of her that included senior Kate Lee (Chevy Chase, Md.), junior Kayleigh McDonald (Somerset, Mass.) and sophomores Carly Iacullo (North Caldwell, N.J.) and Gabby Sousa (West Roxbury, Mass.).

Eastburn made perhaps her two best saves for Tufts just five minutes into the game. She went to her right to stop junior Camille Marsh (Edgewood, Colo.) on a one-timer from the slot after a feed from the right side by graduate student Brianne McGrath (Newmarket, Ontario) and then denied graduate student Jackie Hill (Franklin, N.H.) on the rebound.

McGrath nearly scored for Babson less than two minutes later when her hard shot from the right side got past Eastburn but Iacullo was in position to make a defensive save for the Jumbos and keep the game scoreless.

The visitors got their first shot off in the eighth minute following their first penalty corner but Sousa's attempt went wide left. The Green and White had a pair of penalty corners later in the stanza to no avail.

Babson broke the scoreless deadlock just over a minute into the second quarter. After Eastman stopped a backhanded shot by Hill, Walsh poked the rebound in front to Evans, who knocked in her ninth goal of the season. That ended up being the only shot for either team in the second frame.

Each team managed just one shot in the third quarter, as sophomore Hannah Biccard (Cape Town, South Africa) put one on Furmanek just one minute in and senior Andrea Marguerite (Hopkinton, Mass.) put one on Eastburn three minutes later but both were saved by the respective goalies. Neither team was able to register a shot in the tense fourth quarter and Babson took the only penalty corner.

The Beavers will meet No. 1 and five-time defending champion Middlebury (20-0) in the NCAA semifinals on Friday at 3 p.m. at Jennings Family Stadium in Newport News, Va. Kean and Johns Hopkins will meet in the first semifinal at 12 p.m., and the championship game is slated for Sunday at 1 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• Babson has won four straight and six of the last nine meetings between the two schools but trails the Jumbos 22-8 in the all-time series that dates back to 1994.
• The Green and White were 2-0 this season against Tufts, having defeated the Jumbos 2-0 back on September 26.
• Furmanek set the program single-records with her 22nd victory and 13th shutout, breaking the marks of 21 victories by Cassidy Riley '22 in 2021 and 12 shutouts by Deirdre Barry '20 in 2016.
• The Green and White finish the season at 14-0 on home turf and have won 38 of their last 42 games at MacDowell Field.