BABSON PARK, Mass.— Sophomore Caroline DiGiovanni (Harwich, Mass.) scored the only goal No. 2 Babson College would need and junior goalie Bayla Furmanek (State College, Pa.) made four saves to preserve the shutout and the Beavers held on for a 2-0 victory over No. 5 Tufts University Tuesday evening in a battle of Top 5 Division III field hockey teams at MacDowell Field.

With the victory, the Beavers posted their third straight whitewash and improved to 9-1 overall while the Jumbos suffered their first defeat of the season and fell to 6-1 overall.

Graduate student Meara Hanyon (Brodheadsville, Pa.) tacked on an insurance goal on a penalty stroke for the Beavers. All four of Furmanek's saves came in the fourth quarter for her fifth shutout of the season.

Sophomore Lydia Eastman (New Hope, Pa.) stopped five shots in the Tufts goal but suffered the loss. Sophomore Gabby Sousa (West Roxbury, Mass.) prevented another Babson goal with a defensive save for the Jumbos.

Babson took all four shots and both penalty corners in a defensive-minded first quarter but couldn't get a shot on net. The Green and White upped the pressure on the Jumbo goal in the second frame, outshooting the visitors 7-1 and taking six of the seven corners.

The Beavers broke through in the 18th minute when DiGiovanni picked up a loose ball just inside the top of the circle, dribbled to her right to clear herself of the Tufts defense, and rifled a shot from the right side and into the back of the goal for her fifth goal of the season. The hosts kept the pressure on the remainder of the quarter but had to settle for a 1-0 lead at halftime.

Hanyon buried a penalty stroke past Eastburn four minutes into the third quarter to double the Babson lead. The Beavers nearly scored a minute later on a penalty corner but a shot by graduate student Sinead Walsh (Port Elizabeth, South Africa) was cleared away by Sousa and Eastman saved the follow-up by graduate student Jackie Hill (Franklin, N.H.) to keep it a two-goal affair.

Furmanek made her first save near the left post on senior Rachel Scrivanich (Ho-Ho-kus, N.J.) early in the fourth quarter and denied junior Mia D'Angelo (Westwood, Mass.) on a pair of shots with 3:20 to go. Tufts had a pair of penalty corners in the final three minutes, but Furmanek made a save on senior Andrea DelGiudice (Bedford, N.H.) and the Babson defense prevented any further threats the rest of the way.

Babson finished with a 16-5 advantage in shots (8-4 in shots on goal) and had a 10-3 margin in penalty corners.

The Green and White resume New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) competition on Saturday with a 12 p.m. game at Smith. Tufts is at Colby College for a NESCAC game on Saturday at 1 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• Babson has won three straight and five of the last eight meetings between the two schools but trails the Jumbos 22-7 in the all-time series that dates back to 1994.
• Hanyon is 3-for-3 this season and 12-for-12 in her career in penalty strokes, accounting for 12 of her 13 career goals.
• The Beavers are 4-1 this season against teams from the NESCAC, with the only loss coming to No. 1 Middlebury, 3-2.
• The Green and White are 6-0 this season and have won 30 of their last 34 games at MacDowell Field, with two of the losses coming in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals in 2021 and 2022.