Beavers Earn Third Straight Conference Title and Fifth in Program History
 
BABSON PARK, Mass.— Graduate student Brianne McGrath (Newmarket, Ontario) scored a goal in the closing seconds of the first half to break a scoreless tie and second-ranked and top-seeded Babson College went on to a 3-1 victory over 20th-ranked and second-seeded MIT to capture the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) field hockey championship Saturday afternoon at MacDowell Field.

With the victory, the Beavers earned their third straight conference title and fifth in program history. The Green and White extended their winning streak to 14 games and improved to 20-1 overall while MIT lost for just the second time in its last 14 games and dropped to 14-5 overall. Babson received the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Championships and MIT is in contention for an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament when the field is announced on Sunday night.

Graduate students Sinead Walsh (Port Elizabeth, South Africa) and Jackie Hill (Franklin, N.H.) scored second-half goals for the Beavers and senior Andrea Marguerite (Hopkinton, Mass.) recorded an assist in the win. Junior goalie Bayla Furmanek (State College, Pa.) made three saves to record the win in goal.

First-year Ingrid Tomovski (Bosch en Duin, Netherlands) notched the lone goal for the visitors with an assist from junior Alice Zehner (Gladwyne, Pa.). First-year Maeve Zimmer (Rockville, Md.) finished with 10 saves in goal in the setback.

Babson had a 7-2 advantage in shots in the first quarter and took all four of the penalty corners in the frame but could not put a goal on the scoreboard. The Engineers had a golden chance to take a lead with four minutes left in the quarter when Tomovski sent junior Eva Oppenheim (Tiburon, Calif.) and graduate student Liberty Ladd (Cornelia, Ga.) in on a 2-on-none break with a lead pass but Furmanek denied the shot by Oppenheim.

The Beavers continue to dominate in the second quarter, outshooting the visitors 6-0 and taking all three of the corners but couldn't get on the board until the closing seconds. Down a teammate due to a yellow card, McGrath took a free ball and split three defenders as she carried the ball into the circle then ripped a shot past Zimmer inside the left post with just 13 seconds remaining in the half for her 16th goal of the season.

The hosts doubled their lead five minutes into the third frame when MIT was whistled for a foul in front of the goal that gave Babson a penalty stroke. Walsh stepped up and drilled a shot to the left side of the cage and Zimmer got a piece of it but couldn't stop it as Walsh notched her 18th goal of the season for a 2-0 Beaver lead.

MIT got back in the game with a goal early in the fourth quarter on a penalty corner. Zehner inserted the corner to Tomovski at the top of the circle and she blasted a shot past Furmanek inside the left post for her 14th goal of the season, cutting the margin to 2-1.

Babson tacked on an insurance goal with just under nine minutes to play when Marguerite sent the ball into the circle from the midfield area and Hill one-timed a shot under the pads of Zimmer and into the back of the goal for her 12th of the season.

The Beavers finished with a 25-7 advantage in shots (13-4 in shots on goal) and had a 13-8 margin in penalty corners.

GAME NOTES
• Babson has won six straight and 12 of the last 15 against the Engineers and has a 35-18 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 1984.
• The Green and White had defeated the Engineers in each of the last three NEWMAC finals and all five of the program's conference tournament championships (2010, 2016, 2021, 2022, 2023) have come with victories over MIT in the final.
• McGrath scored three goals and Walsh scored four times in the two conference tournament games while Hill has tallied eight goals in four games since moving into the starting lineup.
• Babson is a perfect 12-0 at MacDowell Field this season.