Women's Lacrosse at Smith
Wednesday, April 26 | 6:00 p.m.
Smith Turf Field | Northampton, Mass.
SERIES HISTORY
• The Beavers are 25-13 all-time against the Pioneers in a series that dates back to 1987.
• The Green and White have won 20 straight games over Smith since 2001 by an average of more than 12 goals per game.
LAST MEETING
• Senior Erin Jayne scored four goals and posted career-highs of seven assists and 11 points and 10 different players scored goals as Babson cruised past Smith, 23-8, on April 27, 2022 at MacDowell Field to claim a share of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season title.
• Courtney Kaskey '22 contributed five goals and one assist to the victory, while senior Claudia Dodge added four goals, four caused turnovers and a career-high 12 draw controls. Senior Anna Katherine Sypniewski and sophomore Kathryn Blake chipped in with two goals and one assist each, and sophomore Jessica Evans scored twice as well.
• Junior Tatum Galuski led the Pioneers with three goals while sophomore Sadie Tschider finished with two goals and one assist. Stella Alphas, Smith's single-season record holder in draw controls, extended her record with 10 draw controls to a season total of 116, and junior Jennie Arancio picked up a game-high five ground balls.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (9-7, 7-1 NEWMAC) has won six straight conference games by an average of score of 22-3, including Saturday's 19-8 victory over Coast Guard in the final regular season home game.
• Graduate student Emily Curtis, Jayne and Evans combined for 10 goals and six assists in the win. Sypniewski and Blake notched two goals and an assist, and Dodge and junior Nicole Darveau added two goals each in the victory. Sophomore Clare Connolly scored once and collected a career-high 20 draw controls, junior Eileen Manning scooped up a team-high five ground balls and sophomore goalie Kathleen Murphy made four saves between the pipes.
• Curtis (53-20-73) is fourth in the league in goals and third in points, Jayne (30-23-53) is tied for fifth in the league in assists, and Dodge (29-10-39) is sixth in the conference with 22 caused turnovers. Connolly tops the NEWMAC and ranks fourth in Division III with 10.12 draw controls per game.
• Murphy (9.65 goals against average, .431 save percentage) has stopped at least 50 percent of the shots she faced in six of her last nine games.
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
• Smith (8-8, 5-3 NEWMCAC) has won two games in a row entering Tuesday's game, including a 17-7 victory over Emerson Saturday in Boston.
• First-year Caroline Sanders tallied five goals and one assist and senior Reese Gittelman matched her six points with four goals and two assists in the win. Tschider added two goals and two assists, junior Gia Arancio chipped in with two goals and an assists, and senior Sydney Havlick (1-1) and Arancio (0-2) added two points apiece. Arancio scooped up seven ground balls and caused three turnovers, Sanders collected nine draw controls, and first-year Brooke Testa made six save in goal in the win.
• Gittelman (21-25-46) and Tschider (27-16-43) each recorded their 100th career point in Saturday's game. Sanders (31-3-34) leads the team in goals and draw controls (40) and Arancio has a team-high 18 caused turnovers and 42 ground balls.
• Testa (12.01 GAA, .500 sv. pct) has started every game between the pipes for the Pioneers and leads the league in save percentage.
ONE GAME TO GO
• With the NEWMAC schedule winding up after Wednesday's games, the post-season race is coming into focus.
• MIT (8-0) and Babson (7-1) have clinched the top two seeds and will receive first-round byes on Saturday. Coast Guard (6-2) enters Wednesday in third place with Springfield (5-3) and Smith (5-3) tied for fourth and Wheaton (4-4) sixth, just a game ahead of Wellesley (3-5).
• The third and fourth seeds will host the sixth and fifth seeded, respectively, in first-round games on Saturday, with the winners heading to MIT and Babson for semifinal games next Wednesday.
IN THE RECORD BOOK
• Jayne has moved up to fourth on the Babson all-time list with 73 career assists as well as 14th in points (180) and tied for 18th in goals (107). Her 23 assists this spring ties her for 15th on the Babson single-season assist chart.
• Connolly extended her single-season program record to 162 draw controls and ranks third on the all-time list with 245 draw controls.
• Dodge is now ninth on the Babson career list with 70 caused turnovers.
• Curtis is tied for ninth on the all-time single season list with 73 points.
BABSON VS. THE NEWMAC
• Babson is 47-5 in regular season games against NEWMAC opponents since the start of 2016.
• Eleven of the last 15 victories against conference schools going back to last season have been by at least 10 goals.
BUSY BEAVERS
• Curtis has scored at least two goals and three points in seven of her last 15 games, and has produced at least five points in nine of her last 13 outings.
• Dodge has scored at least one goal in 14 straight games.
• Connolly has grabbed double-digit numbers draw controls in six of her last eight games, including a career high 20 in Saturday's win over Coast Guard.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers have outscored their first eight NEWMAC foes 155-43, which includes an 99-20 margin in the first half.
• Babson is 9-1 this season and 22-1 since the start of last year when leading entering the fourth quarter.
• The Green and White is 11-0 this year and has won 33 of its last 34 contests when holding its opponents to 10 goals or fewer.
• The Beavers are 28-4 on the road against NEWMAC opponents since 2016.
