No. 15 Women's Lacrosse vs. Springfield or No. 14 Stevens
NCAA Tournament Second Round
Sunday, May 12 | 1:00 p.m.
Stagg Field | Springfield, Mass.

WHAT TO KNOW
• No. 15 Babson received a first-round bye and will compete in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Division III Tournament on Sunday in Springfield, Mass.
• The Beavers will take on tNo. 14 Stevens, which defeated Springfield 15-8 in Saturday's first round. 

SCHEDULE
First Round | Saturday, May 11
No. 14 Stevens 15, Springfield 8
Second Round | Sunday, May 12
No. 15 Babson (16-2) vs. No. 14 Stevens (17-3), 1:00 p.m. 

SERIES HISTORY
vs. Springfield
• Babson is 23-21 all-time against Springfield in the all-time series that dates back to 1997.
• The Beavers have won three straight meetings over the Pride in the past two seasons and the teams have split the last eight games going back to 2019.
• Eight of the last 15 games between the squads have been decided by one or two goals.
vs. Stevens
• Babson is 0-1 all-time against Stevens in a series that dates back to 2005.
• The Ducks captured the only game between the two schools, 15-7, in a spring break contest on March 19, 2005 in Palm Beach County, Fla.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 10th
Best NCAA Finish: Second Round (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2017, 2018, 2023)
• No. 15 Babson (16-2, 10-0 NEWMAC) brings a five-game winning streak into the NCAA Tournament game after capturing its second straight and 10th overall New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) championship with a 10-7 victory over No. 20 MIT in Saturday's final at MacDowell Field.
• Graduate student Lily Ives and junior Amelia Novitch combined for five goals and two assists and graduate student Anna Costello and senior Zoë Michaud each caused four turnovers, and Costello was selected the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Junior Jessica Evans chipped in with a goal and an assist, seniors Nicole Darveau and Genevieve Bushey and juniors Clare Connolly and Michaela Downer scored once each, and Connolly dominated the draws with a game-high 13 draw controls. Fellow junior Kathleen Murphy made 10 saves in goal in the win.
• The Green and White have two 60-point scorers in Ives (51-17-68) and Novitch (36-27-63) and a 50-point scorer in junior Kathryn Blake (31-22-53). Evans (37-12-49) and Connolly (34-2-36) both have 30-plus goals and both Darveau (26-7-33) and Downer (24-4-28) have at least 20 goals. Connolly leads the NEWMAC in draw controls (197) and Costello (48) and Manning (43) are both in the top six in ground balls.
• Costello leads the NEWMAC lead with 51 caused turnovers while Michaud (35) and Manning (31) are in the top seven. Murphy has started 58 consecutive games and owns a career-best 7.33 goals against average and a .472 save percentage.

SCOUTING THE PRIDE
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 10th
Best NCAA Finish: Third Round (2016)
• Springfield (15-4, 9-1 NEWMCAC) earned its second NCAA Tournament at-large berth following a 15-10 setback to No. 20 MIT in the NEWMAC Tournament semifinals last Wednesday on Stagg Field.
• First-year Izzy Lalancette scored four goals and sophomore Lily Johnson tallied a pair, while senior Maddie Roy contributed a goal and an assist and junior Isabella Mazzi chipped in with two assists. Senior Hannah Hibbert grabbed four draw controls, and classmate Haley Moody made nine saves in goal in the loss.
• Johnson (47-15-62) leads the team in scoring, including six game-winners, supported by a pair of 50-points scorers in Lalancette (45-9-54) and junior Samantha Andresen (47-4-51). Graduate student Arielle Johnson (13-32-45) tops the Pride in assists and Roy (21-16-37) is second. Hibbert (60) and Roy (58) have combined for 118 draw controls, and Hibbert (35) and Andresen (33) have combined for 68 ground balls apiece.
• Hibbert has a team-high 29 caused turnovers and Moody (9.46 GAA, .467 sv. pct) has a 12-4 record in goal.

SCOUTING THE DUCKS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 7th
Best NCAA Finish: Second Round (2010, 2011, 2018, 2022, 2023)
• No. 14 Stevens (16-3, 7-0 MAC Freedom) is making its third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament after defeating Lebanon Valley, 19-4, in the MAC Freedom Championship last Saturday in Hoboken, N.J.
• Sophomore Stefanie Sellitto tallied seven goals, one assist and eight draw controls, senior Emily Leiby (3g, 3a) and graduate student Zoe Cook (2g, 4a) notched six points apiece, junior Alison Lax scored three times and classmate Emily Smart finished with a goal and three assists. Leiby scooped up four ground balls and sophomore Felicity Heilferty made four first-half saves for the Ducks, who led 8-0 after one quarter and 13-1 at halftime.
• Sellitto (63-10-73) and Zoe Cook (51-21-72) give the Ducks a pair of 70-point scorers with Leiby (45-23-68) right behind. Smart (20-36-56) leads the team in assists and sophomore Maddie Hogan (30-12-42) is fourth in the team in goals. Sellitto tops the team with 146 draw controls and 46 ground balls.
• Heilferty (7.52 GAA, .464 sv. pct) has started all 19 games in goal and has earned 16 wins between the pipes.

LAST MEETING
vs. Springfield
• Connolly scored four times and led all players with 16 draw controls and No. 18 Babson opened the second quarter with seven consecutive goals on the way to defeating Springfield, 16-9, back on April 20 at Stagg Field. 
• Ives and Novitch both finished with three goals and one assist, Evans also scored three times and Blake added a goal and two assists for the Beavers. Costello, Michaud and senior Eileen Manning all had two caused turnovers, while Murphy finished with 12 saves. 
• Lalancette had four goals and Lily Johnson scored twice and dished out two assists for the Pride. Hibbert led all players with three forced turnovers and tied for game-high honors with three ground balls, while Moody turned away 12 shots in defeat.
vs. Stevens
• Babson dropped a 15-7 decision to Stevents on March 19, 2005 in the second game of the season on March 19, 2005.
• The Beavers got two goals from Brittany Wigmore and Anita Martignetti and one each from Stacy Hambro, Ashley Platt and Erin Conroy. Jennie Williams made two saves in goal and Margaret Schlachter made eight stops off the bench.
• Valerie Barnhart, Kim Mirra, Rebecca Quinn and Liz Mather all tallied hat tricks to lead Stevens, and Kaitlyn Roes netted a pair of goals. Stephanie Linder made a season-high 15 saves in the win.

LAST YEAR'S NCAA APPEARANCE FOR THE BEAVERS
• Emily Curtis '23M finished with career highs of eight goals, five assists and 13 points to help Babson cruise to a 23-8 win over Westfield State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on May 13, 2023 at Alfond Field in Waterville, Maine.
• Claudia Dodge '23 scored four times, Erin Jayne '23 had three goals and Evans contributed two goals and two assists for the Beavers. Connolly and  Blake both scored twice and Connolly led all players with 14 draw controls while Murphy made six saves in the victory.
• Babson had its six-game winning streak snapped in the second round loss to Colby. Curtis and Dodge both scored twice and Evans added a goal and an assist for the Beavers. Connolly finished with six draw controls, Michaud forced two turnovers and Murphy made six saves in the loss.

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 6-9 in nine 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 6-2 all-time in NCAA first-round contests.

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 on Tuesday.
• Costello was joined on the All-NEWMAC First Team by Evans and Novitch while Manning, Connolly, and Murphy earned Second Team honors.

RECORD VS. RANKED TEAMS
• The Beavers are 4-2 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) and No. 15 MIT (10-7) and No. 20 MIT (10-7) and suffered losses to No. 1 Middlebury (18-5) and No. 16 Amherst (15-14).

LIFE ON THE ROAD
• Babson is 7-1 in road games this season and 19-8 away from home since the start of the 2022 season.

NATIONAL STATS RANKINGS
• The Beavers are ranked sixth in Division III in scoring defense (6.61 goals/game), seventh in scoring margin (+9.61), and 19th in Division III in scoring offense (16.22 goals/game).
• The Green and White are ninth in free position scoring percentage (.569).
• Babson is 12th in draw control percentage (.624) and 29th in draw controls per game (16.22).
• Connolly ranks first in draw controls per game (10.89) and Costello is 27th in caused turnovers per game (2.83).
• Murphy ranks seventh in goals against average and 44th in save percentage.

TOURNAMENT TESTED
• Evans tallied three goals and three assists to go along with four ground balls and six draw controls in two NCAA Tournament games last season, while Connolly scored three goals and collected 20 draw controls, six ground balls, two caused turnover and one goal in two NCAA tournament outings last year.
• Manning grabbed four ground balls and two caused turnovers in the two NCAA tourney games last year, junior Kylie McCarthy accumulated three ground balls, four draw controls and a caused turnover, Michaud finished with two caused turnovers and a ground ball, and Blake scored three goals in the two outings. Murphy is 1-1 in NCAA Tournament play with 12 saves and 28 goals allowed.
• Hacker and Darveau have the most experience with three NCAA games each for Babson dating back to 2021. Darveau has scored three NCAA goals and registered one ground ball and one caused turnover while Hacker has caused three turnovers and scooped up two ground balls.
• Ives played in three NCAA Tournament games last year with Trinity, combing for eight goals and two assists for 10 points.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
• Costello set the program single-season record with 51 caused turnovers, breaking the mark of 47 held by Lisa Campofranco '06 in 2006.
• Connolly's 197 draw controls are second-most in a season in program history, behind only the 228 she collected last season.
• Murphy's 16 wins are tied for the program single-season record with Sarah Macary, who went 16-3 in 2008.
• Murphy has also moved into second place on the career victories list with a 42-16 record, trailing Macary's 54-18 mark from 2008-11.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson has won 27 in a row and 52 of its last 53 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 (14-0) and 26-2 since last season when leading at halftime.