BABSON PARK, Mass.— Senior Caroline DiGiovanni (Harwich, Mass.) and junior Helen DiGiovanni (Harwich, Mass.) scored goals in the first five minutes of the game and No. 3 Babson College went on to a 4-0 victory over Salve Regina University in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) field hockey action Saturday afternoon at MacDowell Field.

With their 12th straight victory, the Beavers improve to 16-1 overall and 8-0 in the NEWMAC, clinching at least a share of their 10th consecutive conference regular season title. The Seahawks have lost four of their last five games to slide to 10-6 overall and 3-5 in the NEWMAC.

Senior Laney Reed (West Chester, Pa.) and junior Grace Mullaney (Boxford, Mass.) also scored for the Beavers, and senior Alex Michelotti (Englewood, Colo.) registered an assist. First-year Madison Tibbals (Gorham, Maine) made three saves to record her sixth shutout, sparking a Babson defense that kept the NEWMAC top two leading scorers, Salve seniors Julia Decker (Newton, N.J.) and Georgia Costello (North Easton, Mass.), off the scoresheet.

First-year goalkeeper Siany Ortez (Attleboro, Mass.) had a solid performance in the Salve goal with 11 saves, recording double-digit stops for the third time in her last four games and fourth time in her last six.

The Beavers wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. Sophomore Penny Baroni (Dennis, Mass.) ripped a reverse shot off the cross bar and Caroline DiGiovanni was in position to knock in the rebound for her 17th goal of the season just 2:05 after the opening whistle.

The Seahawks nearly tied the game two minutes later but Tibbals made a stop on Salve's first shot by Costello and then denied Decker from point-blank range on the rebound.

The Green and White doubled their lead less than a minute after that when Helen DiGiovanni received a pass from junior Ashley Braren (Westwood, Mass.) and dribbled around a defender and the keeper before depositing a reverse shot into the empty net for her second goal of the season and a 2-0 lead.

Babson controlled play throughout the rest of the first quarter, forcing eight penalty corners, but Ortez made four saves to prevent further damage. The Seahawks nearly scored when Costello broke in on a breakaway with 30 seconds remaining in the period but she was denied by Tibbals.

After a scoreless second quarter, the Beavers extended their lead three minutes into the third. Michelotti intercepted a Salve clear attempt near the left end line and sent a cross toward the goal, and Reed redirected the cross inside the far right post for her fourth goal of the year.

Mullaney finished off the scoring with a beautiful individual effort in the fourth quarter, taking a pass in the middle third of the field, dribbling past two defenders and the keeper before sliding a shot from the right side into the goal for her second of the season.

Babson finished with a 25-5 advantage in shots, limiting the visitors to just three shots on goal, all in the first quarter. The hosts took all 19 penalty corners in the game.

The Beavers play a non-conference road game on Tuesday at the University of New England at 6 p.m. in Biddeford, Maine. The Seahawks also have non-conference action Wednesday at Western New England at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• Babson has won all nine meetings between the two schools in a series that dates back to 1998.
• The Beavers extended their home winning streak to 18 games dating back to last season, their winning streak against NEWMAC opponents to 49 games since 2021, and their conference regular season winning streak to 75 games going back to 2015.
• Caroline DiGiovanni, who has scored in four straight games, moved into a tie for seventh on the Babson career goals list (51) with Jessica Palandino '10, and into 10th place on the career points list (107).
• The Green and White have clinched the top seed in this year's NEWMAC Tournament, and will host a semifinal game on November 6 at MacDowell Field, where they have played each of their conference tournament games since 2015.