BABSON PARK, Mass. — Seventh-ranked Babson College scored three second-quarter goals in an eight-minute span and senior goalie
Bayla Furmanek (State College, Pa.) made three saves for her fourth straight shutout as the Beavers shut down Keene State College, 5-0, in an NCAA Division III Field Hockey Tournament first round contest on Wednesday afternoon at MacDowell Field.
With their 14th straight victory, the Beavers have won their last four games by a combined score of 21-0 to improve to 19-3 overall. Keene State, which captured its 15th Little East Conference Championship last Saturday, sees its season come to an end with a 16-7 overall record. The Green and White advance to the second round where they will face No. 11 Bates on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Medford, Mass.
Seniors
Jessica Evans (Southbury, Conn.) and
Camille Marsh (Englewood, Colo.) and junior
Caroline DiGiovanni (Harwich, Mass.) scored goals in the Beavers' second quarter outburst, and junior
Laney Reed (West Chester, Pa.) and graduate student
Katie Guden (Belmont, Mass.) tacked on insurance goals in the third quarter, with senior
Berit Sharrow (Denver, Colo.) picking up an assist on the final goal.
Junior goalie Clara Gorman (Stratham, N.H.) had an impressive performance in the Keene State goal, finishing with 12 saves, while sophomore Elyse Picard (Southington, Conn.) and fifth-year Demetria Gonzalez (Merrimack, N.H.) each recorded defensive saves in the setback.
In a defensive-minded first quarter, Babson managed four penalty corners and outshot the visitors 5-0 but Gorman made a pair saves to keep the game scoreless. Evans broke the deadlock four minutes into the second quarter when she made a backhanded flip shot over the goalie into the top of the net for her 15th goal of the season, giving the Beavers a 1-0 lead.
Babson doubled its lead five minutes later when Marsh picked up a loose ball in the scoring zone, dribbled to the left side and hit a backhander inside the far post for her sixth of the season and a 2-0 advantage. DiGiovanni capped the rally with her team-leading 19th goal of the season, scoring on a rebound after Gorman had made a stop of Sharrow's shot.
The hosts put the game out of reach with a pair of goals two minute apart in the third quarter. Reed flipped a rebound past Gorman for her third of the season after the KSC keeper had denied a shot by graduate student
Andrea Marguerite (Hopkinton, Mass.), and Guden deflected the ball through Gorman's pads on an outside shot by Sharrow off a penalty corner.
Babson finished with a 31-6 margin in total shots, including 19-3 in shots on goal, and the Beavers had an 11-3 advantage in penalty corners.
Saturday's second round game between Babson and Bates will be a rematch of the regular season contest back on September 11 in Lewiston, Maine, when the Beavers captured a 3-0 victory. The two teams also met in last year's NCAA Tournament second round, with the Green and White winning 1-0 in overtime in Babson Park.
GAME NOTES
• Babson has captured the last three games against the Owls since 2019 and has a 3-1 lead in the all-time series that dates back to 2002.
• Playing in their first NCAA Tournament first-round game since 2019, the Beavers won their opening game in the tournament for the fifth year in a row.
• Furmanek posted her 13th shutout of the season, equaling her own program single-season record she set last season.
• DiGiovanni's 19th goal ranks tied for 10th on the program's single-season record list.
• The Beavers finished 10-1 at home this season and 24-1 at MacDowell Field since the start of last season.
