No. 18 Women's Lacrosse at Springfield
Saturday, April 20 | 4:00 p.m.
Stagg Field | Springfield, Mass.

WHAT TO KNOW
• The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season crown will be on the line Saturday as longtime rivals Babson and Springfield meet in a battle between the league's co-leaders.
• The Beavers and Pride are the only remaining undefeated teams in conference play, and Saturday's winner will secure first place and the number one seed in the post-season tournament.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 22-21 all-time against Springfield in the all-time series that dates back to 1997.
• The teams have split the last six games going back to 2021 and are 10-10 against each other since 2012.
• Eight of the last 14 games between the squads have been decided by one or two goals.

LAST MEETING
• Junior Jessica Evans scored a career-high seven goals and second-seeded Babson opened the second half with a 9-1 run to pull away for a 15-9 win over third-seeded Springfield in a NEWMAC Tournament semifinal on May 3, 2023 at MacDowell Field.
• Evans, who converted 4-of-6 free-position chances, added season highs of four ground balls and three caused turnovers for the Beavers. Emily Curtis '23M and junior Kathryn Blake both scored twice, Erin Jayne '23 added a goal and two assists and junior Clare Connolly led all players with 11 draw controls. Senior Eileen Manning forced four turnovers, while junior Kathleen Murphy turned away 10 shots in the win.
• Jade O'Connor '23M and sophomore Sarah Newton both scored three times, Gianna Scialdone '23 won 10 draws and senior Kyana Alvarado forced a team-high four caused turnovers for the Pride. Senior Haley Moody made eight saves in the loss.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 18 Babson (12-2, 8-0 NEWMAC) bounced back from having its 10-game winning streak snapped with a 16-5 victory over Wheaton on Wednesday in Norton, Mass.
• Juniors Amelia Novitch (4g, 2a) and Blake (3g, 2a) combined for seven goals and four assists and graduate student Anna Costello caused three turnovers and grabbed three ground balls in the win. Graduate student Lily Ives scored three times, senior Genevieve Bushey and Evans chipped in with a goal and two assists each and senior Nicole Darveau scored twice for the Green and White.
• The Green and White have two 50-point scorers in Ives (41-12-53) and Novitch (28-22-50) and one 40-point scorer in Blake (27-19-46). Evans (29-10-39), Connolly (25-2-27), Darveau (21-5-26) and junior Michaela Downer (20-3-23) all have at least 20 goals, Connolly is fifth in Division III in draw controls (151), and Costello (36) and Manning (31) lead the team in ground balls.
• The Green and White boast a balanced defense as Costello has 39 caused turnovers while Manning (20), and seniors Kayleigh Hacker (19) and Zoë Michaud (16) are all within four CTs. Murphy has started 54 consecutive games and owns a career-best 7.87 goals against average and a .437 save percentage.

SCOUTING THE PRIDE
• Springfield (13-2, 8-0 NEWMAC) is riding an eight-game winning streak after edging No. 17 MIT, 16-15 in overtime, in a key NEWMAC home affair on Wednesday to remain undefeated in conference play.
• Sophomore Lily Johnson scored less than a minute into OT for the game-winner, finishing with five goals on the night, while both classmate Sarah Newton and first-year Izzy Lalancette tallied three goals apiece for the Pride. Johnson also registered a game-high five draw controls while senior Haley Moody posted seven saves for the Pride including one as time expired in regulation.
• Johnson (42-13-55) leads the team in scoring, including six game-winners, supported by a pair of 40-points scorers in junior Samantha Andresen (41-4-45) and Lalancette (33-8-41). Graduate student Arielle Johnson (10-27-37) tops the Pride in assists and senior Maddie Roy (19-15-34) is second. Roy (50) and senior Hannah Hibbert (49) have combined for 99 draw controls, and Andresen and Hibbert are tied with 29 ground balls apiece.
• Hibbert has a team-high 20 caused turnovers and Moody (9.18 GAA, .447 sv. pct) has a 10-2 record in goal.

TIGHT RACE IN THE NEWMAC
• With eight games down and two to go in the NEWMAC race, Babson (8-0) and Springfield (8-0) are in a race for the regular season crown.
• MIT (6-2) sits in third place, Coast Guard (5-3) and Wheaton (5-3) are tied for fourth, and Smith (4-4) is in sixth place and currently holds the final playoff berth, one game ahead of Salve Regina (3-5) and Clark (3-5).

DOMINENCE IN CONFERENCE PLAY
• Babson is 55-5 in regular season games against NEWMAC opponents since the start of 2016.
• Eighteen of the last 22 victories against conference schools going back to 2022 have been by at least 10 goals.

NATIONAL STATS RANKINGS
• The Beavers are ranked 14th in Division III in scoring offense (16.71 goals/game), 10th in scoring margin (+9.64) and 11th in  scoring defense (7.07 goals/game).
• The Green and White are 22nd in free position scoring percentage (.552).
• Babson is 24th in draw control percentage (.601) and 34th in draw controls per game (16.14).

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
• Connolly's 151 draw controls are second-most in a season in program history, behind only the 228 she collected last season.
• Costello's 39 caused turnovers are tied for fifth in the program's single-season list with Sarah Siciliano (2002), one behind Delaney Carroll (2017) and Claudia Dodge (2022) for third place on the chart.

BEAVER BITES
• Ives has scored goals in all 13 of her games this season and 54 consecutive games dating back to her career at Trinity.
• Evans has scored at least one goal in 21 consecutive games dating back to last season.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson has won 22 in a row and 48 of its last 49 games when holding its opponents to 10 goals or fewer.
• The Green and White are 24-1 since the start of last season when scoring 12 or more goals, including 11-1 this season.
• Babson is unbeaten this season (10-0) and 22-2 since last season when leading at halftime.

UP NEXT
• After four straight road games, the Beavers will return home for the regular season finale on Wednesday vs. Wellesley at 4 p.m. on MacDowell Field.