No. 3 Field Hockey at No. 8 Williams
Sunday, September 8 | 1 p.m.
Williamson Field | Williamstown, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY
• Sunday's game between Babson and Williams will be just the third career meeting between the two programs, with the visiting team winning a one-goal game in the first two.
• The Ephs edged the Beavers 3-2 in the first encounter in 2022 in Babson Park, and the Green and White took last year's contest in Williamstown.

LAST MEETING
• Graduate student Andrea Marguerite scored a pair of first-half goals and seventh-ranked Babson made them stand up with a 2-1 victory over fifth-ranked Williams in a battle of top 10 teams on September 9, 2023, at Williamson Field.
• Brianne McGrath '23 M'24 and senior Jessica Evans registered assists in the win. Senior Bayla Furmanek collected seven saves, which was her second-most in a game last season.
• Junior Kiki Higgins scored the lone goal for the Ephs off an assist from Molly Hellman '24. Gates Tenerowicz '24 made three saves in goal in the loss.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 3 Babson (3-0) posted its second straight shutout victory with a 1-0 verdict over Roger Williams on Thursday evening in Bristol, R.I.
• Sophomore Helen DiGiovanni scored the only goal of the game in the 41st minute, assisted by her sister Caroline DiGiovanni. Furmanek was not forced to make any saves in goal to earn her program-record 23rd career shutout as the Beavers outshot the Hawks 19-2.
• Caroline DiGiovanni (3-0-6) has the team's early scoring lead after recording her first career hat trick in the season-opening win over Endicott. Helen DiGiovanni (2-0-4) is the team's other multi-goal scorer through three games, and Evans, senior Berit Sharrow and sophomore Ashley Braren have one goal each.
• Furmanek (0.67 GAA, 2 SO) has started 50 consecutive games in the Babson goal going back to the start of the 2022 season.

SCOUTING THE EPHS
• No. 8 Williams (1-0), which plays its home opener on Saturday vs. No. 6 Tufts, is coming off a 4-0 victory at Union on Wednesday in Schenectady, N.Y.
• Sophomore Haley McAuslin led the charge for the Ephs, scoring two goals and providing an assist. Classmate Claire Colvin and junior Pilar Torres also found the back of the net, helping Williams outshoot Union 19-4. Key assists came from Higgins and junior Chloe Bush, and first-year Ellie Smith made four saves for the shutout in her collegiate debut.
• Higgins led the team in scoring last season with 11 goals and 27 points and Torres contributed eight goals and five assists, with both earning All-Region First Team honors. Other key returnees include senior Meaghan Boehm (8, 1a), sophomore Claire Colvin (6g, 5a), and junior Anna Miller (2g, 4a).
• Williams finished last season at 12-8 overall, fell to Middlebury in the NESCAC title game, and lost to No. 6 Salisbury in overtime in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

BABSON VS. THE NESCAC
• Sunday's matchup vs. Williams is the second of six Babson regular season games this season against schools from the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC).
• After defeating Connecticut College in the first NESCAC encounter this season, the Beavers will also face No. 9 Bates on September 11, No. 1 Middlebury on September 15, No. 6 Tufts on September 24, and No. 16 Bowdoin on October 9.
• The Green and White went 6-2 against NESCAC teams last season and 4-2 in both 2021 and 2022, with four of the six losses in that span vs. top-ranked Middlebury.

NEWMAC WEEKLY HONOR
• Caroline DiGiovanni was tabbed the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Field Hockey Offensive Athlete of the Week Tuesday afternoon for the first week of the fall season.
• DiGiovanni produced her first career hat trick and fourth career multi-goal game in the win over Endicott.

NFHCA WATCH LIST
• Sharrow was named to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division III Watchlist for the second year in a row on Monday.
• The Watchlist is intended to showcase those field hockey student-athletes with the strongest potential for consideration to the current year's NFHCA All-Region and All-American teams.

GOALIE RECORDS
• Furmanek's whitewash against Roger Williams is the 23rd of her career, surpassing the program record set by her predecessor Cassidy Riley '21, who recorded 22 shutouts from 2018-21.
• Furmanek set the program single-season records last year with 22 wins and 13 shutouts.

BEAVER BITES
• Helen DiGiovanni has two goals in three games this season after scoring just once in 10 appearances as a rookie last season.
• The DiGiovanni sisters have now accounted for five of the eight Beaver goals this season.
• Since 2019, the Beavers are 31-7 in the month of September with four of their losses coming against top-ranked Middlebury.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers are 25-1 since the start of last year and 60-1 over the past four seasons when scoring the first goal of the game.
• Babson has won its last 56 games over the past four campaigns when leading at halftime.
• The Green and White are 22-1 since the start of last season when scoring at least two goals and have won 123 straight games since 2014 when scoring at least three times.
• The Beavers have won 22 games in a row when holding opponents to one goal or less and have won 88 of 90 contests since 2018 when keeping opponents to fewer than two goals.

UP NEXT
• The Beavers will play their third straight road game on Wednesday at No. 9 Bates in Lewiston, Maine, at 6 p.m.