BABSON PARK, Mass.— Junior Grace Keefe (Danbury, Conn.) scored the deciding goal with 24.5 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter as No. 1 Middlebury College edged No. 4 Babson College, 2-1, in a battle of highly-ranked field hockey programs Sunday afternoon at MacDowell Field.

The Beavers suffered their second loss of the season to a top-10 team and fell to 4-2 overall, while Middlebury improved to 4-0 this season and extended its winning streak to 35 games going back to 2022.

Graduate student Katie Guden (Belmont, Mass.) scored her first goal of the season for the Beavers, with an assist from junior Caroline DiGiovanni (Harwich, Mass.). Senior Bayla Furmanek (State College, Pa.) made six saves in the Beaver goal, including one on a second-half penalty stroke by the Panthers.

Junior Georgianne Defeo (Rehoboth, Mass.) also scored for the visitors and seniors Amy Griffin (Wilmette, Ill.) and Caroline Segal (Glencoe, Ill.) recorded assists in the win. Sophomore Izzy Redzic (South Burlington, Vt.) made three saves in the Middlebury goal.

With the scored tied at 1-1 and overtime looming, Middlebury was awarded a penalty corner with 33 seconds remaining. Griffin took the corner insertion from Segal at the top of the circle and pushed a pass to Keefe on the right side, who fired a shot through traffic in front of the net and past Furmanek into the left side of the goal for what turned out to be the game-winner.

Babson took an early lead with the first goal of the game on a penalty corner four minutes in. After the insertion to the top of the circle, DiGiovanni dribbled the ball into space on the right side and blasted a shot that was deflected in front by Guden into the net that put the Beavers in front. Middlebury had a 5-1 advantage in shots in the opening quarter but Babson had the 1-0 lead.

The Green and White had a 3-2 advantage in shots in the second frame but it was Middlebury who answered with a tying goal. The Panthers took advantage of a Babson turnover near midfield to create a fast break, and Segal sent Defeo in alone with a lead pass on the right side. Defeo snapped a shot past Furmanek into the left side of the net to deadlock the game at 1-1.

Middlebury had a golden opportunity to take the lead five minutes into the third team when it was awarded a penalty stroke after senior Lilly Branka (Medfield, Mass.) was taken down inside the circle. Branka went top left on her stroke attempt but Furmanek made a terrific lunging save to deny the goal.

The Panthers had an 8-1 shot advantage in the second half but could not produce a go-ahead goal. Both teams put a shot on goal in the fourth quarter but the goalies kept the score tied. Babson had a penalty corner with 2:09 remaining but the Middlebury defense prevented any damage, and a Panther corner less than two minutes later led to the decisive goal.

Middlebury finished with a 15-5 shot advantage for the game, including 8-4 in shots on goal, and each team had six penalty corners.

Babson is back in action with its New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opener at Saturday at Clark at 2 p.m. Middlebury travels to Amherst on Saturday for a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) match-up at 11 a.m.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is 1-13 all-time against Middlebury in a series that dates back to 1996, with seven of the losses coming by just one goal.
• Babson is 8-4 since the start of last year against top-20 opponents and 5-4 against top-10 foes.
• Sunday's loss was just the second over the past four seasons (61-2) when Babson scored the first goal of the game.
• The Panthers have won 24 of their last 26 games by at least two goals, with their only two one-goal victories coming over Babson.