No. 16 Women's Lacrosse vs. Coast Guard
NEWMAC Tournament Semifinal
Wednesday, May 1 | 6:00 p.m.
MacDowell Field | Babson Park, Mass.

WHAT TO KNOW
• Babson begins its quest for a second straight NEWMAC Tournament championship and third title in four years with a home playoff game on Wednesday evening.
• After receiving a first-round bye, the top-seeded Beavers will host fourth-seeded Coast Guard in a semifinal matchup at 6 p.m. at MacDowell Field.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 10-0 all-time against Coast Guard in a series that dates back to 2015.
• The Beavers have captured all four career games against the Bears at MacDowell Field by at least 11 goals.
• The Green and White have met Coast Guard in a pair of NEWMAC Tournament tilts, winning 17-1 in the 2018 semifinals and 14-6 in the 2021 semifinals.

LAST MEETING
• Junior Amelia Novitch finished with three goals and two assists and graduate student Anna Costello and senior Genevieve Bushey both recorded five caused turnovers as visiting Babson rallied back from a five-goal first-quarter deficit to defeat Coast Guard, 13-10, on March 16, 2024, in New London, Conn.
• Junior Jessica Evans scored twice and added one assist while classmate Clare Connolly added two goals and led all players with 12 draw controls for the Beavers. Fellow juniors Michaela Downer and Kathryn Blake each chipped in with two goals, and senior Eileen Manning (Needham, Mass.) registered three forced turnovers.
• Junior Caitlyn Coates led all players with five goals and one assist for six points, while sophomore Abby McAllister scored twice and dished out three assists to lead the Bears' offense. Senior Mia Becker finished with game highs of six caused turnovers and four ground balls and junior Maici Mintchwarner turned away 12 shots in a losing effort. 

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 16 Babson (14-2, 10-0 NEWMAC) brings a three-game winning streak into the post-season following a 25-1 thrashing of Wellesley in last Wednesday's regular-season finale at MacDowell Field.
• Graduate student Lily Ives produced three goals and four assists in the win, and seven players scored multiple goals. Blake, Downer, Connolly, senior Nicole Darveau and first-year Mia Fierro all scored three times each, and Novitch contributed a goal and an assist. Connolly collected a game-high 11 draw controls and senior Kayleigh Hacker scooped up a team-high five ground balls.
• The Green and White have a 60-point scorer in Ives (47-17-64) and two 50-point scorers in Novitch (33-23-56) and Blake (31-22-53). Evans (33-11-44) and Connolly (32-2-34) both have 30-plus goals and both Darveau (25-6-31) and Downer (23-4-27) have at least 20 goals. Connolly leads the NEWMAC in draw controls (178) and Costello (43) and Manning (37) are both in the top 10 in ground balls.
• Costello is second in the NEWMAC with 42 caused turnovers while Manning and Michaud are tied for seventh with 26. Murphy has started 56 consecutive games and owns a career-best 7.64 goals against average and a .460 save percentage.

SCOUTING THE BEARS
• Coast Guard (13-4, 7-3 NEWMAC) brings a six-game winning streak into Wednesday's game after getting past fifth-seeded Smith in Saturday's quarterfinal, 11-6, in New London, Conn.
• Junior Kira Howard tallied six points on four goals and two assists while McAllister contributed two goals and three assists in the win. Senior Sarah Skurat and Coates added a goal and an assist each, first-year Katie Kogler grabbed 10 draw controls, Becker and McAllister each caused four turnovers, and Mintchwarner made 10 saves in goal for the Bears.
• McAllister (46-50-96) leads the NEWMAC in assists and ranks second in points, while Coates (57-10-67) is third in goals. Skurat (21-24-45) and senior Addy Bass (34-9-43) are also 40-point scorers, and Becker (88) and Kogler (62) are third and seventh in draw controls.
• Becker leads the league with 44 caused turnovers while Mintchwarner (6.74 GAA, .553 sv. pct) is 9-2 in 12 starts in goal.

NEWMAC TOURNEY HISTORY
• Babson is making its 16th appearance in the NEWMAC Tournament semifinals since 2007, going 15-0 in the previous semifinal contests.
• The Beavers went on to claim nine NEWMAC championships (2007-11, 2017-18, 2021, 2023).

POST-SEASON NUMBERS
• Evans recorded 16 points (13g, 3a) in four post-season games last season, while Connolly collected 43 draw controls, 10 ground balls, six goals and four caused turnovers and Manning finished with five ground ball and six caused turnovers in four outings last spring.
• Hacker has produced scooped up 15 ground balls and caused one turnover in nine career postseason starts, and Michaud has four ground balls and five caused turnovers in six career postseason games.
• Murphy has a 4-2 career record in six postseason starts with a 10.83 goals against average and a .430 save percentage.

NATIONAL STATS RANKINGS
• The Beavers are ranked ninth in Division III in scoring offense (17.19 goals/game), fifth in scoring margin (+10.38) and seventh in  scoring defense (6.81 goals/game).
• The Green and White are fourth in free position scoring percentage (.578).
• Babson is 18th in draw control percentage (.612) and 24th in draw controls per game (16.56).
• Connolly ranks first in draw controls per game (11.06) and Costello is 39th in caused turnovers per game (2.63).
• Murphy ranks 12th in goals against average and 59th in save percentage.

WEEKLY HONORS
• Costello won her second NEWMAC Defensive Athlete of the Week honor on Monday after scooping up four ground balls and tying for team-high honors with two caused turnovers in the regular-season finale victory over Wellesley last week.
• Costello is one of three Beavers to win the conference weekly defensive honor, along with Michaud and Murphy.

DOMINENCE IN CONFERENCE PLAY
• Babson is 58-5 in regular season games against NEWMAC opponents since the start of 2016.
• Twenty of the last 25 victories against conference schools going back to 2022 have been by at least 10 goals.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
• Costello's 43 caused turnovers are third-most on the program's single-season list, trailing only Lisa Campofranco '06 (47 in 2006) and Sarah Siciliano '04 (44 in 2004).
• Connolly's 178 draw controls are second-most in a season in program history, behind only the 228 she collected last season.
• Murphy's 14 wins is tied for fourth in single-season history with Stephanie Balaouras (14-2 in 1996), and she need just two wins to tie Sarah Macary (16-3 in 2008) for the top spot on the list.
• Murphy has also moved into second place on the career victories list with a 40-16 record, trailing Macary's 54-18 mark from 2008-11.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson has won 25 in a row and 50 of its last 51 games when holding its opponents to 10 goals or fewer.
• The Green and White are 26-1 since the start of last season when scoring 12 or more goals, including 13-1 this season.
• Babson is unbeaten this season (12-0) and 24-2 since last season when leading at halftime.

UP NEXT
• The winner of Wednesday's game will advance to face the winner of the other semifinal between third-seeded MIT and second-seeded Springfield in the NEWMAC championship game on Saturday at the site of the higher remaining seed.