SPRINGFIELD, Mass.—Junior Clare Connolly (Hanover, Mass.) scored four times and led all players with 16 draw controls and No. 18 Babson College opened the second quarter with seven consecutive goals on the way to defeating Springfield College, 16-9, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's lacrosse action on Saturday afternoon at Stagg Field. 

Babson, which clinched at least a share of its fourth NEWMAC regular season title in six seasons and the top seed in the upcoming league tournament, improves to 13-2 overall and 9-0 in coference play. Springfield had its eight-game winning streak snapped and is now 13-3 overall and 8-1 in NEWMAC action. 

Graduate student Lily Ives (Chappaqua, N.Y.) and junior Amelia Novitch (Dover, Mass.) both finished with three goals and one assist, junior Jessica Evans (Southbury, Conn.) also scored three times and classmate Kathryn Blake (Medfield, Mass.) added a goal and two assists for three points to lead the Beavers' offense. Graduate student Anna Costello (Milton, Mass.) and seniors Zoë Michaud (Bedford, N.H.) and Eileen Manning (Needham, Mass.) all had two caused turnovers, while junior Kathleen Murphy (Scarborough, Maine) finished one shy of her season high with 12 saves. 

First-year Izzy Lalancette (Feeding Hills, Mass.) had four goals and sophomore Lily Johnson (Oceanside, N.Y.) scored twice and dished out two assists for the Pride. Senior Hannah Hibbert (Center Harbor, N.H.) led all players with three forced turnovers and tied for game-high honors with three ground balls, while classmate Haley Moody (Wells, Maine) turned away 12 shots in defeat. 

Springfield took a 1-0 lead on junior Samantha Andresen's (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) tally nearly nine minutes into the contest before the Green and White seized control with nine straight goals. Evans tied it at 2:56 of the first and Connolly with 27 seconds to go in the stanza before the Beavers erupted for the first seven goals of the second quarter. 

Tallies by Evans and Connolly made it 4-1 at the 11:29 mark, while Novitch, senior Genevive Bushey (Lakeville, Conn.) and Ives all scored in a span of less than 90 seconds to extend the margin to 7-1 with 4:09 to go before halftime. Evans completed her hat trick with 2:45 left and Novitch buried a free-position chance 31 seconds later for a 9-1 advantage. 

Johnson stopped the run her first goal 46 seconds later but Blake and senior Nicole Darveau (Sudbury, Mass.) both scored over the final 50 seconds of the period to gave Babson and 11-2 lead at the half. Lalancette scored four times as the Pride opened the third quarter with a 6-1 run to cut its deficit to four late in the third only to see the visitors respond with four straight goals. 

Murphy made a save late in the third and two more early in the fourth before Ives and Connolly each scored twice to reestablish a 16-8 lead with just over four minutes to play. 

Both teams conclude the regular season on Wednesday as Babson hosts Wellesley at 4 p.m., while Springfield travels to Mount Holyoke at 6 p.m. 

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are 23-21 all-time against Springfield and have won three straight meetings over the last two seasons. 
•    Babson has won 18 straight games against NEWMAC foes going back to last year with just four of the contests having been decided by less than six goals. 
•    The Green and White has won it last 23 games and 59 of its last 61 outings going back to 2018 when holding its opponents to 10 goals or fewer. 
•    Ives extended her goal streak to 55 games on Saturday, while Evans has scored in 22 straight outings going back to last year.