NEWMAC Tournament Semifinal
Women's Lacrosse vs. Springfield
Wednesday, May 3 | 5:00 p.m.
MacDowell Field | Babson Park, Mass.

WHAT TO KNOW
• Second-seeded Babson hosts rival and third-seeded Springfield in a NEWMAC Tournament semifinal on Wednesday at MacDowell Field.
• Wednesday's game will be the 16th NEWMAC Tournament encounter between the two schools since 2004, previously facing each other four times in the semifinals and 11 times in the title game.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson and Springfield are tied at 21-21 in the all-time series that dates back to 1997.
• The teams have split the last eight games going back to 2018, the last 12 going back to 2015, and the last 18 dating back to 2012.
• Eight of the last 13 games between the squads have been decided by one or two goals.

LAST MEETING
• Graduate student Emily Curtis tallied seven points on five goals and two assists and senior Anna Katherine Sypniewski added a season-high four goals to help Babson to a 16-6 victory over Springfield back on March 18, 2023, in the NEWMAC opener at MacDowell Field.
• Senior Claudia Dodge notched two goals and one assist for the Beavers, while classmate Erin Jayne and junior Nicole Darveau added a goal and two assists each, sophomore Clare Connolly grabbed a game-high six draw controls and sophomore goalie Kathleen Murphy made nine saves in the victory.
• Graduate student Jade O'Connor led the Pride with three goals and one assist, junior Maddie Roy, sophomore Lauren Ronai and first-year Sarah Newton scored once each, and senior Arielle Johnson collected two assists. Junior Hannah Hilbert grabbed a team-high five draw controls, and senior goalie Emily McDermott finished with 11 saves in the setback.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Second-seeded Babson (10-7, 8-1 NEWMAC) wrapped up the regular season with victories in three straight games and six of the previous seven, including a 21-12 verdict at Smith in the finale last Wednesday.
• Curtis scored a career-high seven goals and added three assists for a career-best 10 points in the win. Dodge finished with four goals and three assists to match her career high with seven points and Jayne also scored four times for the Beavers. Connolly recorded a career-high 23 draw controls, classmate Jessica Evans scored twice and led all players with four ground balls and Murphy made three saves in the victory.
• Curtis (60-23-83) is third in the league in goals and points, Curtis and Jayne (34-23-57) are tied for seventh in the league in assists, and Dodge (33-13-46) is sixth in the conference with 23 caused turnovers. Connolly tops the NEWMAC and ranks third in Division III with 10.88 draw controls per game.
• Murphy (9.78 goals against average, .419 save percentage) has stopped at least 50 percent of the shots she faced in eight games this season.

SCOUTING THE PRIDE
• Third-seeded Springfield (11-7, 6-3 NEWMCAC) advanced to the conference semifinals with a 16-9 victory over sixth-seeded Wheaton in a first-round game on Saturday, outscoring the Lyons 5-0 in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
• Johnson led the Pride with three goals and four assists, while O'Connor and Roy also scored three times each. Newton contributed two goals and three assists, sophomore Samantha Andreson added two goals and two assists, and senior Lauren Landino chipped in with two goals and one assist. Hilbert collected nine draw controls and McDermott (3 saves) and junior Haley Moody (5 saves) split time in the Pride goal.
• O'Connor (64-11-75) is second in the NEWMAC in goals and sixth in points and Johnson (32-27-59) is tied for fourth in the league in assists. Andreson (31-7-38) and Newton (22-12-34) are also offensive threats, senior Gianna Scialdone is third in the conference with 31 caused turovers, and Scialdone (76) and Hibbert (74) are fourth and fifth in the conference in draw controls.
• McDermott (10.70 GAA, .436 sv. pct) has started 15 of the 18 games and logged 712 minutes while Moody (10.14 GAA, .438 sv. pct) has three starts and logged 373 minutes between the pipes.

POST-SEASON HISTORY
• The Beavers have won eight of the previous 15 post-season games between the two schools, including three of the last five.
• Four of the last six post-season games between the squads have been decided by one or two goals, including last year's 8-6 Springfield victory.

NEWMAC CHAMPS
• The Beavers and Pride have combined to win 16 of the 20 NEWMAC Tournament titles since 2002 with eight championships apiece.
• The Green and White won five straight tournament titles from 2007-2011 and added championships in 2017, 2018 and 2021 for a total of eight crowns. Springfield captured tournament banners in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2022 to match Babson with eight.
• Wheaton in 2003, 2004 and 2014 and MIT in 2015 are the only other schools with win the championship in the last 20 years.

BABSON VS. THE NEWMAC
• Babson is 48-5 in regular season games against NEWMAC opponents since the start of 2016.
• The Beavers are 9-3 in conference tournament games in that span, winning three championships (2017, 2018, 2021).

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 (184) and tied for 15th in goals (111). Her 23 assists this spring ties her for 15th on the Babson single-season assist chart.
• Connolly extended her single-season program record to 185 draw controls and ranks third on the all-time list with 268 draw controls.
• Dodge is now ninth on the Babson career list with 71 caused turnovers.
• Curtis is sixth on the all-time single season list with 83 points as well as seventh on the single season chart with 60 goals and tied for 15th with 23 assists.

BUSY BEAVERS
• Curtis has scored at least two goals and recorded at least three points in 16 straight games. Dodge has both a goal and a point streak at 15 games.
• Jayne has recorded at least one point in 45 of her 46 career games, being shut out by Williams back on April 5.
• Connolly has grabbed at least 20 draws in her last two games and finished with at least nine draw controls in 10 of her last 12 games.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers are 10-0 this season and 23-1 since the start of last season when scoring 12 or more goals.
• Babson has won all eight this year and 33 of its last 34 games when holding its foes to 10 goals or fewer.
• The Green and White are 10-2 when leading at halftime this season and are 50-3 since the start of 2018 when taking a lead into the second half.

UP NEXT
• The winner of Wednesday's semifinal game will advance to the championship game against the winner of the semifinal between fourth-seeded Coast Guard and top-seeded MIT. The highest remaining seed will host the title game on Saturday.