NCAA Tournament Semifinal
No. 3 Babson vs. No. 2 Johns Hopkins
Friday, November 21 | 3:30 p.m.
Robin Sheppard Field | Hartford, Conn.

WHAT TO KNOW
• The Babson field hockey program will make its second appearance in three years and third since 2016 in the NCAA Division III Final Four this weekend in Hartford, Conn.
• The No. 3 Beavers will take on No. 2 Johns Hopkins in the second semifinal on Friday at 3:30 p.m. Friday's winners will play for the Division III national championship on Sunday at 12 p.m. 

SCHEDULE
Semifinals | Friday, November 21
No. 1 Christopher Newport (19-0) vs. No. 6 Tufts (17-3), 12 p.m. 
No. 3 Babson (22-1) vs. No. 2 Johns Hopkins (21-1), 3:30 p.m.

Final | Sunday, November 22
Semifinals winners, 12:00 p.m. 

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson and Johns Hopkins are tied 1-1 in the all-time series between the two programs dating back to 2011.
• The Beavers captured the first meeting, 3-2, on September 10, 2011, in Babson Park.
• The Blue Jays took the most recent match-up, 1-0, on November 11, 2022 in an NCAA Tournament quarterfinal at Babson Park.

LAST MEETING
• Anna Scott '23 scored the only goal of the game late in the third quarter and fourth-ranked Johns Hopkins held on to defeat seventh-ranked Babson, 1-0, in a 2022 NCAA Tournament quarterfinal on a rainy afternoon at MacDowell Field.
• Bayla Furmanek '25 finished with three saves for the Beavers, who had their 15-game winning streak snapped.
• Olivia Fox '23 assisted on the game-winning goal, and Alexis Loder '24 made two first-quarter saves for the Blue Jays, who won their 15th game in a row and advanced to the national semifinals for the fourth straight year.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 10th
Final Four Appearances: 2016, 2023, 2025
Best NCAA Finish: Semifinals (2016, 2023)
• No. 3 Babson (22-1) brings a program-record 18-game winning streak into the weekend after back-to-back victories over No. 16 Bowdoin (2-1) and No. 7 Wesleyan (1-0) in the second and quarterfinal rounds last weekend in Babson Park.
• Senior Caroline DiGiovanni and junior Grace Mullaney scored goals in the win over Bowdoin and sophomore Lauren Golden made a key defensive save in the fourth quarter to preserve the victory. Senior Laney Reed scored the only goal of the game with an assist from Mullaney in the win over Wesleyan. First-year goalie Madison Tibbals made five saves against the Polar Bears and two vs. the Cardinals in the victories.
• DiGiovanni (25-0-50) has 14 goals in her last 10 games, which includes 13 goals in a seven-game goal-scoring streak, and ranks 13th in Division III goals per game and 25th in points per game. Sophomore Penny Baroni (11-7-29) ranks in the top 10 in the conference in all three offensive categories. Mullaney (3-8-14) leads the team in assists, Reed (6-0-12) is third in goals, and junior Ashley Braren (5-1-11) and senior Alex Michelotti (3-5-11) are tied for fifth in points.
• Tibbals (0.80 GAA, .795 sv. pct, 66 saves) has started 22 straight games between the pipes and allowed one goal or fewer 19 times with nine shutouts. She ranks eighth in Division III in goals against average.

SCOUTING THE BLUE JAYS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 13th
Final Four Appearances: 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025
Best NCAA Finish: Runner-Up (2021, 2022, 2023)
• No. 2 Johns Hopkins (21-1) extended its winning streak to 20 matches with Centennial Conference Tournament victories over No. 19 Haverford (1-0) and No. 12 Dickinson (4-1) and NCAA Tournament triumphs over No. 22 WPI (6-0) and No. 9 Middlebury (3-0).
• Graduate student Grace Nockolds and junior Sophia Albano scored first-half goals against Middlebury, sophomore Kaitlin Coward notched a second-half insurance goal and graduate student Jenna Halpin collected two assists. Aubrey Kilgore (45 mins, 3 svs.) and Jessica Lapidus (15 mins, 1 sv.) combined on the shutout for the Blue Jays, who avenged four straight NCAA losses to the Panthers, including three in the title game from 2021-23.
• Seniors Megan Chang (10-8-28) and Grace Waldeck (10-6-26) share the team lead in goals and Halpin (5-13-23) is 18h in Division III in assists per game. Junior Caeli Robinson (7-6-20), Albano (5-3-13) and first-year Evie Hamm (5-2-12) are also offensive threats for the Blue Jays.
• Kilgore has started all 22 games for the Blue Jays and boasts a 0.74 goals against average and a .865 save percentage, ranking ninth in Division III in GAA and sixth in save percentage.

NCAA POSTSEASON HISTORY
• Babson has made eight of its 10 NCAA Tournament appearances since 2016, and advanced to the semifinals three times (2016, 2023 and 2025).
• The Green and White posted 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 defeated No. 7 Bates (1-0 OT) and No. 10 Tufts (1-0) before falling to No. 1 Middlebury (3-0) in the 2023 semifinals.
• This weekend's action marks the first semifinals games in New England for Babson, which traveled to Geneva, N.Y. in 2016 and Newport News, Va. In 2023.

NCAA TOURNAMENT TESTED
• Senior Sanne van der Goes is the most experienced Beaver in NCAA Tournaments, having played in nine games over the past four seasons.
• Reed has seen action in eight career NCAA Tournament games, scoring a three of goals, while Caroline DiGiovanni has scored four goals in seven NCAA tourney games and Braren has appeared in seven NCAA contests over the past three seasons.

HEAD COACH JULIE RYAN
• Babson is led by 19th-year head coach Julie Ryan, who has achieved a 290-99 record (.746), including a 127-20 mark against NEWMAC opponents.
• An 11-time Coach of the Year, she has led the program to seven conference tournament championships and nine NCAA Tournament berths.

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, defender van der Goes and first-year defender Anna Bonazzoli, while sophomore midfielder Taylor Shoflick earned a Second Team honor.

STREAKING BEAVERS
• Babson has won at least 13 games in a row in each of the past six seasons, including this year's program record 18-game surge.
• The Beavers also won 17 consecutive games in 2021, 16 in a row in 2023, 15 straight in 2022, 14 in a row in 2024 and 13 straight in 2019.
• The Green and White has captured 10 consecutive New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season championships and five straight NEWMAC tournament titles, qualifying for the last six NCAA Tournaments.
• Babson owns a 76-game NEWMAC regular season winning streak going back to 2015 and has won 52 straight games overall vs. NEWMAC opponents since start of the 2021 season.
• The Beavers finished 14-0 at home this season and has won 23 in a row at MacDowell Field dating back to last year.
• Babson and Johns Hopkins are the only two programs in Division III to record at least 19 wins in each of the past six seasons.

THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTS
• The Babson defense, anchored by Bonazzoli, van der Goes, Golden and junior Emma Smith, has allowed just 20 goals in 23 games this season, with 11 shutouts.
• The Green and White are ranked 11th in Division III with a team 0.86 goals against average.
• The Beavers have surrendered just 10 goals in their current 18-game winning streak.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS
• DiGiovanni is making a strong impact on the Babson career scoring lists, as she is now tied for third with Sarah Fredlund '11 for third on the Babson career goals list with 59, and ninth on the career points list with 123.
• DiGiovanni also climbed to a tied for fourth with Morgan Lockwood '14 on the Babson single-season goals list with 25, and seventh on the single-season points list with 50.
• Tibbals (21-1) is the third goalie in program history to record 21 wins in a season, joining Bayla Furmanek '25 (22 in 2023) and Cassidy Riley '22 (21 in 2021).

BEAVER BITES
• The Green and White are 11-0 this season in games decided by one goal and has won 29 of 36 games over the past five years in games determined by a single goal.
• The Beavers are 7-1 this season against teams ranked in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association top 25, and are 17-7 against nationally ranked programs since 2023.
• The Babson seniors have achieved remarkable success since 2022, registering a new program standard with an overall record of 82-11 (.882), surpassing the mark of 81-12 (.879) set by last year's seniors and the 72-17 (.809) achieved by the seniors of 2019.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Green and White have won their last 84 games over the past five years when leading at halftime.
• Since the start of the 2021 season, Babson is 92-2 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 Friday's semifinal will advance to the NCAA Championship game on Sunday at 12 p.m.