NCAA Field Hockey | Babson Park Regional
Saturday, November 15-Sunday, November 16
MacDowell Field | Babson Park, Mass.

WHAT TO KNOW
• The Babson field hockey team was selected as one of four regional hosts for the NCAA Tournament second and quarterfinal rounds for the fourth time in the last five seasons. 
• The No. 3 Beavers welcome No. 16 Bowdoin, No. 7 Wesleyan and No. 12 Hamilton to MacDowell Field for games on Saturday and Sunday. 

SCHEDULE
Second Round | Saturday, November 15
No. 3 Babson (20-1) vs. No. 16 Bowdoin (10-7), 11:00 a.m.
No. 7 Wesleyan (15-4) vs. No. 12 Hamilton (12-5), 2 p.m. 

Quarterfinal Round | Sunday, November 16
Second round winners, 1:00 p.m. 

SERIES HISTORY
vs. No. 16 Bowdoin: 5-12 in a series that dates back to 1985.
vs. No. 7 Wesleyan:  10-7 in a series that dates back to 2001.
vs. No. 12 Hamilton: First Meeting

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 10th
Best NCAA Finish: Semifinals (2016, 2023)
• No. 3 Babson (20-1) brings a 16-game winning streak into the weekend after capturing its fifth consecutive NEWMAC Tournament championship and seventh overall with a 1-0 victory over No. 24 WPI on Saturday at MacDowell Field.
• Senior Laney Reed scored the only goal of the game in the 22nd minute and top-seeded Babson withstood a fourth-quarter surge by second-seeded WPI. Junior Helen DiGiovanni assisted on the game-winner, sophomore Lauren Golden had a key defensive save in the fourth quarter, and first-year Madison Tibbals made a pair of saves in goal in the victory. Senior Caroline DiGiovanni was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
• C. DiGiovanni (24-0-48) had 13 goals in a recent seven-game goal-scoring streak and ranks 10th in Division III goals per game and 23rd in points per game. Sophomore Penny Baroni (11-7-29) ranks in the top 10 in the conference in all three offensive categories. Junior Ashley Braren (5-1-11), senior Alex Michelotti (3-5-11), and junior Grace Mullaney (2-7-11) are tied for third in points, and Mullaney is tied with Baroni for fifth in the league in assists.
• Tibbals (0.83 GAA, .787 sv. pct, 59 saves) has started 20 straight games between the pipes and allowed one goal or fewer 17 times with eight shutouts. She ranks 10th in Division III in goals against average.

SCOUTING THE POLAR BEARS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 15th
Best NCAA Finish: Champions (2007, 2008, 2010, 2013)
• No. 16 Bowdoin (10-7) snapped a five-game losing skid with a commanding 7-0 victory over Scranton in the NCAA Tournament first round on Wednesday on its home field in Brunswick, Maine. The Polar Bears were previously edged by Middlebury, 3-2, in the NESCAC Tournament quarterfinals.
• Junior Emily Ferguson led the Polar Bears with three goals and one assist, sophomore Hannah Balmelli scored a pair of goals, and sophomore Ella Davies finished with a goal and an assist. Senior Mackay Bommer also scored and junior Clara Noyes and sophomore Charlotte Crawford collected assists. Senior Lauren O'Donald made one save before giving way to Eva Filipponi with 11 minutes remaining.
• Ferguson (14-10-24) has five multi-goal games and leads the team in scoring while Bommer (10-3-23) has scored in four straight games. Balmelli tallied her second multi-point game against Scranton and junior Maddie Mrva (3-6-12) and Noyes (2-5-9) are second and third on the team in assists.
• O'Donald has started all 17 games for the Polar Bears and boasts a 1.70 goals against average and a .725 save percentage with two shutouts. 

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2nd
Best NCAA Finish: Second round (2024)
• No. 7 Wesleyan (15-4), which lost to Bates in the NESCAC championship game, 2-0, advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a decisive 7-0 victory over Marywood on Wednesday in Middletown, Conn.
• First-year Meera Patel led the Cardinals with two goals and an assist, junior Kenzie Mauro and sophomore Leila Feldman tallied a goal and an assist each, and senior Georgia Adams picked up two assists. Sophomore Natalie Shaw and first-years Emily Smith and Kate Francini also scored for Wesleyan, who outshot Marywood 39-0, including 29 shots on goal.
• The Cardinals have a balanced attack as Feldman (12-2-26) owns six game-winning goals on the season and seven goals in her last six games, and Adams (9-8-26) and Patel (8-9-25) both have points in seven of their last eight games. Smith (5-5-15) and sophomores Brooke Miner (1-8-10) and Teddy Tolbert (4-2-10) are also strong offensive threats.
• Senior Audrey Pace has started all 19 games for the Cardinals and posted a 1.08 goals against average with an .812 save percentage and three shutouts.

SCOUTING THE CONTINENTALS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2nd
Best NCAA Finish: First Round (2009)
• No. 12 Hamilton (12-5) advanced to the second round with a dramatic 2-1 double-overtime victory over No. 21 SUNY Geneseo Wednesday in Clinton, N.Y. The Continentals took No. 6 Bates to double overtime in the NESCAC quarterfinals before falling in a shootout, 1-0.
• Senior Sammy Higgins scored 1:58 into the second OT for the win over Geneseo with an assist from classmate Lilly Truchon. Senior Becky Felkner broke a scoreless tie back in the second quarter for the Continentals, who had a 21-4 margin in shots and 9-3 advantage in shots on goal. Sophomore Kelly Janssen made two saves in goal in the victory.
• Felker (9-1-19) has scored in the last two games and leads the team in scoring while Higgins (6-4-10) has goals in three of her last four outings. Truchon (7-1-15) is second on the team in goals and junior Isabelle Nahon (3-4-1) shares the team lead in assists.
•Janssen (0.83 GAA, .808 sv. pct., 722 min.) has played in 17 games and started the last three for Hamilton, posting a 7-3 record. Senior Abby Griffin (1.57 GAA, .667 sv. pct., 420 min.) started the first 14 games with a 5-2 record.

EARLIER THIS SEASON
vs. Bowdoin
• Caroline DiGiovanni scored the only goal of the game 63 seconds into the fourth quarter as No. 4 Babson edged No. 8 Bowdoin, 1-0, in a battle of top-10 ranked opponents back on October 14 at MacDowell Field.
• Tibbals made one save for her fourth straight shutout and fifth of the season for the Beavers. O'Donald made three saves in goal for Bowdoin, who were outshot 9-2 overall and 4-1 in attempts on target.

NCAA POSTSEASON HISTORY
• Babson has made seven of its nine NCAA Tournament appearances since 2016, and advanced to the quarterfinals four times (2016, 2021, 2022 and 2023).
• The Beavers knocked off Keene State in last year's first round, 5-0, before a 2-1 loss to No. 11 Bates in the second round.
• The Green and White made national semifinal appearances in 2016 and 2023, posting victories over St. John Fisher (3-0) and No. 8 Franklin & Marshall (1-0) before a 5-2 loss to No. 1 Messiah in the 2016 semifinals, and defeating No. 7 Bates (1-0 OT) and No. 10 Tufts (1-0) before falling to No. 1 Middlebury (3-0) in the 2023 semifinals.
• Entering this weekend, Babson has had home-field advantage in 13 of their 19 NCAA Tournament contests.

NCAA TOURNAMENT TESTED
• van Der Goes is the most experienced Beaver in NCAA Tournaments, having played in seven games over the past three seasons.
• Reed has seen action in six career NCAA Tournament games, scoring a pair of goals, while Caroline DiGiovanni has scored three goals in five NCAA tourney games and Braren has appeared in five NCAA contests over the past two seasons.

FIVE BEAVERS EARN ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
• Caroline DiGiovanni was named the NEWMAC Athlete Player of the Year and Julie Ryan and her three assistants were honored as the Coaching Staff of the Year when the NEWMAC announced its postseason awards on Wednesday.
• DiGiovanni was joined on the All-NEWMAC First Team by Baroni, senior defender Sanne van der Goes and first-year defender Anna Bonazzoli, while sophomore midfielder Taylor Shoflick earned a Second Team honor.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
• Babson is 12-0 at home this season and has won 21 in a row at MacDowell Field dating back to last year.
• The Beavers are 37-1 on home turf since the beginning of the 2023 season and have won 61 of its last 66 home games since 2021.
• Sixteen of the last 23 wins and 24 of the last 37 home victories have come by way of the shutout.

THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTS
• The Babson defense, anchored by Bonazzoli, van der Goes, Golden and junior Emma Smith, has allowed just 19 goals in 21 games this season, with eight shutouts.
• The Green and White are ranked 15h in Division III with a team 0.89 goals against average.
• The Beavers have surrendered just nine goals in their current 16-game winning streak.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS
• DiGiovanni continues to move up on the Babson career scoring lists, as she now ranks fourth on the Babson career goals list with 58, and ninth on the career points list with 121.
• DiGiovanni also climbed to fifth on the Babson single-season goals list with 24, just one shy of the 25 by Morgan Lockwood '14 in 2012.

BEAVER BITES
• The Green and White are 9-0 this season in games decided by one goal and has won 27 of 34 games over the past five years in games determined by a single goal.
• The Babson seniors have achieved remarkable success since 2022, registering an overall record of 80-11 (.879), surpassing the seniors of 2019, who went 72-17 (.809) in their four years and approaching the most wins set by last year's seniors of 81-12 (.871).
•The Beavers are 5-1 this season against teams ranked in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association top 25, and are 15-7 against nationally ranked programs since 2023.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Green and White have won their last 83 games over the past five years when leading at halftime.
• Since the start of the 2021 season, Babson is 90-2 when holding the opponent to no more than one goal. The only losses were 1-0 in overtime at No. 8 Williams in 2024 and 1-0 to No. 4 Johns Hopkins in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals in 2022.

UP NEXT
• The winner of Sunday's national quarterfinal will advance to the NCAA Tournament semifinal on November 21 at Robin L. Sheppard Field in Hartford, Conn.