No. 2 Field Hockey vs. Skidmore
Wednesday, September 20 | 4 p.m.
MacDowell Field | Babson Park, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY
• The Beavers are 6-11 all-time against the Thoroughbreds in a series that dates back to 2004, including 3-4 at MacDowell Field.
• Babson captured five meetings in a row from 2016-21 before the Thoroughbreds broke the streak last year in Saratoga Springs.
• The last five games between the two schools have each been decided by just one goal.

LAST MEETING
• Graduate student Brianne McGrath scored a tying goal with four minutes remaining in regulation, but Carrie Hughes '23 fired home the game-winner two minutes into OT to lift Skidmore past No. 7 Babson, 2-1, at Wagner Park.
• Grad student Meara Hanyon picked up an assist on McGrath's goal for the Beavers, and junior Bayla Furmanek made two saves in the setback.
• Hughes finished with both goals for the Thoroughbreds, Carly Shea'23 and junior Kayla Hassett registered assists on the two goals, and junior Victoria Bodnar made a career-high 11 saves in the victory.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 2 Babson (6-1, 1-0 NEWMAC) is looking to bounce back from its first loss of the season on Sunday at No. 1 Middlebury, 3-2, at Peter Kohn Field.
• Graduate student Jackie Hill and senior Andrea Marguerite scored for the Beavers and grad student Sinead Walsh and junior Berit Sharrow registered assists. Furmanek made a career-high 13 saves in the setback.
• Walsh (4-5-13) leads the team in assists and points, McGrath (5-2-12) and Marguerite (5-1-11) share the goal-scoring lead and Hanyon (2-3-7) is second on the team in assists.
• Furmanek (6-1, 1.14 GAA, .784 sv. pct) has started 30 straight games in goal for the Beavers and owns 10 career shutouts.

SCOUTING THE THOROUGHBREDS
• Skidmore (2-2, 0-0 LL) is coming off a pair of losses to SUNY New Paltz (5-4) last Wednesday and Castleton (3-0) on Friday. The Green and Gold opened the season with wins over Thomas (4-1) and Utica (5-1).
• Junior Brooke Tunnicliffe, sophomores Mia Angwin and Abby Ezickson and senior Arianna Spiezio accounted for the Skidmore scoring in the loss to New Paltz. Junior Victoria Bodnar made seven saves in the setback.
• Ezickson (4-1-9) tops the team in scoring and juniors Kayla Hassett (2-1-5) and Beth Yorns (2-1-5) are tied for second. Bodnar (2.35 GAA, .679 sv. pct) has started 25 straight games in goal for the Thoroughbreds and has three shutouts.
• Skidmore went 12-9 last season and lost to Vassar in the Liberty League Tournament in the first round.

NATIONAL DISCUSSION
• Despite the loss to Middlebury, Babson moved up one spot to No. 2 in this week's NFHCA Division III poll.
• The ranking matches the highest in program history after reaching No. 2 on October 10, 2017.

CONFERENCE HONOR FOR WALSH
• Walsh became the second straight Beaver to earn a conference weekly award on Monday when she was named NEWMAC Offensive Athlete of the Week.
• The Holy Cross transfer scored a pair of goals and contributed four assists for eight points in three games for No. 3 Babson.

STREAKING BEAVERS
• Marguerite has at least one goal in four of her last five games, with five goals and an assist in that span.
• Walsh has recorded at least one point in five of her seven games this season, including her last three.

FRIENDLY CONFINES
• The Green and White are 3-0 this season and have won 27 of their last 32 games on home turf at MacDowell Field.
• The Beavers are 70-16 at home since the start of the 2015 season.

BEAVER BITES
• Babson was the first team to score against Middlebury in five games this season.
• The Beavers' first goal against the Panthers broke a streak of nearly 645 minutes of scoreless play and handed Middlebury its first goal in 12 straight outings since a 5-1 win over Hamilton on October 29, 2022.
• The Green and White had their streak of consecutive victories after scoring the first goal of the game snapped at 41.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson has won its last 37 games over the past two campaigns when leading at halftime.
• The Green and White have won 106 straight games since 2014 when scoring at least three times.
• The Beavers have won 70 of 72 contests since 2018 when holding opponents to less than two goals.

UP NEXT
• The Beavers play their second of three straight home games with an 11:30 a.m. NEWMAC match-up on Saturday against Wheaton.