No. 15 Women's Lacrosse at No. 5 Salisbury
NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinals
Saturday, May 18 | 10:30 a.m.
Sea Gull Stadium | Salisbury, Md.

WHAT TO KNOW
• No. 15 Babson will visit No. 5 Salisbury for the regional semifinals of the 2024 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament on Saturday in Salisbury, Md.
• Saturday's winner will take on the survivor of the other semifinal between No. 7 Washington & Lee and No. 21 Christopher Newport for the regional crown on Sunday afternoon.

REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Semifinals | Saturday, May 18
No. 15 Babson (17-2) vs. No. 5 Salisbury (15-3), 10:30 a.m.
No. 7 Washington & Lee (17-3) vs. No. 21 Christopher Newport (14-6), 1:30 p.m.
Final | Sunday, May 19
Semifinal winners, 1:30 p.m. 

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 0-1 all-time against Salisbury in the all-time series that dates back to 2009.
• The Sea Gulls captured the only previous game between the two schools, 17-8, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament back on May 9, 2009.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 10th
Best NCAA Finish: Second Round (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2017, 2018, 2023)
• No. 15 Babson (17-2, 10-0 NEWMAC) extended its winning streak to six games with an 11-9 triumph over No. 14 Stevens in the NCAA Tournament second round game on Sunday in Springfield, Mass.
• Graduate student Lily Ives and junior Jessica Evans scored three goals apiece and junior goalie Kathleen Murphy made 14 saves for the Beavers. Junior Amelia Novitch scored twice, classmate Kathryn Blake added a goal and two assists, and senior Nicole Darveau and junior Michaela Downer scored once each for the Green and White. Junior Clare Connolly grabbed five draw controls, senior Kayleigh Hacker collected four caused turnovers and three ground balls while graduate student Anna Costello caused three turnovers and grabbed two ground balls.
• The Green and White have a 70-point scorer in Ives (54-17-71), a 60-point scorer in Novitch (38-27-65), and a pair of 50-point scorers in Blake (32-25-57) and Evans (40-12-52). Connolly (34-2-36) leads Division III in draw controls (202) and Costello (50) and Manning (44) are among the conference leaders in ground balls.
• Costello is ranked 27th in Division III in caused turnovers per game (2.84). Murphy has started 59 consecutive games and has career-best statistics of a 7.44 goals against average and a .486 save percentage.

SCOUTING THE SEA GULLS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 24th
Best NCAA Finish: Champions (2010, 2013, 2014, 2021)
• No. 5 Salisbury (15-3, 2-0 C2C) rolled to its sixth straight victory with a 23-6 verdict over Cabrini in an NCAA Tournament second round contest at home on Sunday.
• Senior Camryn Pepper led the Sea Gulls with 10 points on five goals and five assists. Classmates Caroline Knight (3g, 0a) and Mary Hanzsche (2g, 1a) and graduate student Erin Scannell (1g, 2a) produced three points apiece and juniors Alexandra Parker and Abby Lantos scored twice each. Knight grabbed a team-high four draw controls, senior Madeline Davis and junior Natalie Held both caused a pair of turnovers and senior Leah Vilov and sophomore Julianna Ott scooped up four ground balls each. Three Salisbury goalies combined for six saves in the win.
• The Sea Gulls have a potent offense led by Pepper (28-33-61), Hanzsche (27-30-57) and Vilov (44-6-50), supported by Scannell (31-10-41) and sophomore Miranda Mears (33-0-33). Held (69) and senior Meridith Price (49) are the top draw controllers and Held has a team-high 46 ground balls.
• Held (34) and Davis (27) have combined for 61 caused turnovers. Graduate student Kaitlyn Hunsinger has started all 18 games in goal and has a 7.73 goals against average and a .470 save percentage with 93 saves.

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS
• Babson captured its second straight New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) championship, defeating Coast Guard (7-3) in the semifinals and No. 20 MIT (10-7) in the final.
• Salisbury won the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Tournament, downing No. 21 Christopher Newport (15-4) in the final.

NCAA POSTSEASON HISTORY
• After making five straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2007-11, the Beavers have competed in four of the last six tournaments since 2017, compiling an aggregate record of 7-9 in 10 visits to the national tourney.
• The Beavers won first round games over Trinity in 2008, Farmingdale State in 2009, Williams in 2010, Johnson & Wales in 2017, Castleton in 2018 and Westfield State in 2023.
• Babson is 0-4 all-time in NCAA round of 16, with all four games coming from 2007-10, including the encounter at Salisbury in 2009.

RECORD VS. RANKED TEAMS
• The Beavers are 5-2 this season against teams in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division III poll.
• Babson registered victories over No. 17 Chicago (13-9), No. 13 Trinity (16-7), No. 15 MIT (10-7), No. 20 MIT (10-7) and No. 14 Stevens (11-9) and suffered losses to No. 1 Middlebury (18-5) and No. 16 Amherst (15-14).

TOURNAMENT TESTED
• Evans has tallied six goals and three assists to go along with four ground balls and six draw controls in three career NCAA Tournament games, while Connolly has scored three goals and collected 25 draw controls, six ground balls, two caused turnover and one goal in three NCAA tournament outings.
• Manning has grabbed five ground balls and two caused turnovers in the three career NCAA tourney games, junior Kylie McCarthy has three ground balls, four draw controls and a caused turnover, Michaud has produced four caused turnovers and a ground ball, and Blake has scored four goals and two assists in three outings. Murphy is 2-1 in NCAA Tournament play with 26 saves and 37 goals allowed.
• Hacker and Darveau have the most experience with four NCAA games each for Babson dating back to 2021. Darveau has scored four NCAA goals and registered one ground ball and one caused turnover while Hacker has caused seven turnovers and scooped up five ground balls.
• Ives has played in four career NCAA Tournament games, including three last year with Trinity, combining for 11 goals and two assists for 13 points.

NCAA TOURNAMENT TIMES TWO
• Evans will be playing in her fifth NCAA Tournament game this school year, including both field hockey and lacrosse.
• She was a starter for Babson in three NCAA field hockey tournament games last fall as the Beavers advanced to the national semifinals and is now competing in the NCAA regional semifinals in lacrosse.

NATIONAL STATS RANKINGS
• The Beavers are ranked fifth in Division III in scoring defense (6.74 goals/game), seventh in scoring margin (+9.21), and 24th in Division III in scoring offense (15.95 goals/game).
• The Green and White are seventh in free position scoring percentage (.570).
• Babson is 13th in clearing percentage (.881) and 19th in draw control percentage (.609).
• Connolly ranks first in draw controls (201) and draw controls per game (10.58), and is the only player in Division III history to record over 200 draws in multiple seasons.
• Murphy ranks sixth in goals against average (7.50) and 29th in save percentage (.489) and Costello is 27th in caused turnovers per game (2.84)..

ALL-AMERICA HONORS
• Costello and Connolly were both honored when USA Lacrosse Magazine revealed its 2024 Division III All-America teams last Friday night.
• Costello was named to the All-America second team, while Connolly earned an honorable mention nod.

SIX BEAVERS EARN ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
• Costello was selected as the NEWMAC Defensive Player of the Year and Michelle Smith and her two assistants were honored as the Coaching Staff of the Year when the NEWMAC announced its postseason awards last week.
• Costello was joined on the All-NEWMAC First Team by Evans and Novitch while Manning, Connolly, and Murphy earned Second Team honors.

LIFE ON THE ROAD
• Babson is 8-1 in road games this season and 20-8 away from home since the start of the 2022 season.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
• Costello has set the program single-season record with 54 caused turnovers, breaking the mark of 47 held by Lisa Campofranco '06 in 2006.
• Connolly's 202 draw controls are second-most in a season in program history, behind only the 228 she collected last season.
• Murphy's 17 wins are a new program single-season record, breaking the mark she shared with Sarah Macary, who went 16-3 in 2008.
• Murphy has also moved into second place on the career victories list with a 43-16 record, trailing Macary's 54-18 mark from 2008-11.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson has won 28 in a row and 53 of its last 54 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 (15-0) and 27-2 since last season when leading at halftime.