No. 2 Field Hockey vs. No. 20 MIT
Saturday, November 4 | 12:00 p.m.
MacDowell Field | Babson Park, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY
• The Beavers have a 34-18 advantage over MIT in the all-time series that dates back to 1984.
• Babson has won five straight and 11 of the last 14 against the Engineers dating back to 2014. All three losses have come at MacDowell Field in the NEWMAC Tournament (championship games in 2017 and 2019, semifinals in 2018).
• The Green and White have captured 10 of the last 13 at MacDowell Field going back to 2012.

POSTSEASON HISTORY VS. MIT
• Babson and MIT will meet for the seventh consecutive NEWMAC Tournament on Saturday and 13th time overall in the conference playoffs.
• The Beavers are just 4-8 all-time in the postseason against the Engineers, with all four of the program's conference tournament championships (2010, 2016, 2021, 2022) coming with victories over MIT in the final.
• The past six playoff games against the Engineers since 2016 have been decided by a total of seven goals.

2022 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
• No. 10-ranked/top-seeded Babson scored once in each of the first three quarters and No. 12/second-seeded MIT couldn't recover as the Beavers captured their second consecutive NEWMAC championship with a 3-1 victory over the Engineers on November 5, 2022, at MacDowell Field.
• Senior Andrea Marguerite, graduate student Brianne McGrath and sophomore Caroline DiGiovanni scored for the Beavers, and junior Bayla Furmanek made six saves in goal in the win. Junior back Berit Sharrow was named Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
• Sophomore Bailey McIntyre scored the lone goal for the Engineers on a penalty stroke in the final minute of the third period. Junior goalie Anna Duncan made six saves in the setback.

LAST MEETING
• McGrath scored two goals and No. 2 Babson erupted with three fourth-quarter goals to secure a 5-2 victory over No. 19 MIT back on October 21 at rainy MacDowell Field.
• Marguerite tallied a goal and an assist for the Beavers, and grad students Sinead Walsh and Jackie Hill scored one goal each. Furmanek made three saves to record the win in goal.
• Junior Alice Zehner produced a goal and an assist for the Engineers and first-year Ingrid Tomovski notched a goal. First-year Maeve Zimmer finished with three saves in goal in the first half and junior Anna Duncan made one save in the second half.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Second-ranked and top-seeded Babson (19-1, 9-0 NEWMAC) advanced to the title game with a 9-0 rout of fifth-seeded Springfield in Thursday night's semifinal at MacDowell Field.
• Walsh notched her second hat trick and McGrath tallied her sixth two-goal game of the season in the win. Juniors Jessica Evans and Sharrow and sophomore Laney Reed all provided a goal and an assist for the Beavers, Marguerite added a goal, and grad student Meara Hanyon chipped in with an assist. Furmanek made one save to record her 11th shutout of the season.
• Walsh (17-7-41), Marsh (16-5-37), and McGrath (15-7-37) give Babson three players with at least 30 points for just the third time in program history (2010, 2006). Hill (11-0-22) and DiGiovanni (10-0-20) give the Beavers five double-digit goal scorers and Evans (8-10-26) and Hanyon (4-10-18) are tied for the conference lead in assists.
• Furmanek (19-1, 0.65 GAA, .794 sv. pct) has started every game over the past two seasons and leads the NEWMAC in goals against average and shutouts (11).

SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS
• No. 20 and second-seeded MIT (14-4, 8-1 NEWMAC) punched its ticket to the final with a 4-1 triumph over third-seeded WPI in Thursday night's semifinal in Cambridge.
• Graduate student Liberty Ladd tallied three goals, including the go-ahead goal in the 54th minute and a late empty netter, and assisted on MIT's other goal by junior Eva Oppenheim. Zimmer made six saves in goal to record the win.
• Two-time NEWMAC Offensive Athlete of the Year grad student Paige Forrester (19-9-47) leads the conference in goals and points. First-year Ingrid Tomovski (13-4-30) has four multi-goal games, Oppenheim (12-6-30) has points in nine of her last 10 games, and Ladd (12-4-28) has nine goals and four assists in her last six games, including five markers in the two tournament games this week.
• Zimmer (1.23 GAA, .818 sv. pct.) has started all 18 games for the Engineers and ranks second in the NEWMAC in goals against average and leads the league in save percentage.

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 have played their last 13 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 30 straight games overall vs. NEWMAC opponents since start of the 2021 season.
• The Beavers outscored conference opponents 64-5 in 10 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 11-0 this season on home turf and have won 35 of their last 39 games at MacDowell Field.
• The Beavers are 76-16 at home since the start of the 2015 season.

BUSY BEAVERS
• Walsh has registered points in seven of her last eight games, accumulating 11 goals and two assists for 24 points in that stretch.
• Marsh has collected points in six of her last nine games, totaling eight goals and two assists for 18 points in that span.
• McGrath has points in seven of her last nine outings, tallying eight goals and five assists for 21 points since the beginning of October.

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 20 games this season, the fewest in the NEWMAC.
• The Beavers have surrendered just five goals in their current 13-game winning streak.
• Since the start of the 2018 campaign, the Green and White are 83-2 when holding the opponents to no more than one goal.

ASSAULT ON THE RECORD BOOKS
• Babson has outscored its opponents 107-13 this season to set the program single season mark for goals, breaking the mark of 100 set in 2021.
• McGrath continues her climb on the program's all-time scoring list and now ranks tied for sixth with 125 points, eighth with 49 goals and tied for ninth with 27 assists.
• Furmanek moved up to fourth on the career wins list with 38 and tied for second with 19 shutouts. She is also tied for third on the single season chart with 19 wins and second in shutouts with 11, one shy of the mark of 12 by Deirdre Barry '20 set in 2016.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson has won 52 games in a row when leading at halftime, dating back to 2021.
• The Beavers have lost just once in their last 55 outings when scoring the first goal of the game.

UP NEXT
• The winner of Saturday's championship game will earn the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Championships and the runner-up will be in the running for an at-large berth.