No. 13/19 Women's Lacrosse vs. Coast Guard
Saturday, March 15 | 1:00 p.m.
MacDowell Field| Babson Park, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 11-0 all-time against Coast Guard in a series that dates back to 2015.
• The Beavers defeated the Bears 7-3 in the NEWMAC Tournament last season after scoring at least 13 goals in the previous 10 matchups.
• The Green and White are 5-0 against the Bears at MacDowell Field.

LAST MEETING
• Senior Jessica Evans led all players with three goals and Anna Costello M'24 set a new single-season program record with five caused turnovers to help 16th-ranked and top-seeded Babson defeat fourth-seeded Coast Guard, 7-3, in a NEWMAC Tournament semifinal on May 1, 2024, at MacDowell Field. 
• Senior Amelia Novitch finished with a goal and an assist and classmate Clare Connolly scored once and led all players with six draw controls for the Beavers. Zoë Michaud '24 registered five caused turnovers, graduate student Eileen Manning scooped up a game-high six ground balls to go along with four caused turnovers, and senior goalkeeper Kathleen Murphy made three saves and also contributed three forced turnovers and two ground balls in the victory.
• Addy Bass '24 had two goals, classmates Mia Becker and Caitlin Kelly both recorded three caused turnovers and junior Maici Mintchwarner made nine saves in the loss for the Bears. 

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (0-1, 0-0 NEWMAC), ranked 13th in Division III by the IWLCA and 19th by USA Lacrosse Magazine, is looking for its first win of the season after taking a 17-6 loss at No. 1 Middlebury in the season opener back on March 4 in Vermont.
• Murphy made a career-high 15 saves in the setback to the three-time defending national champions. Senior Kathryn Blake scored twice, Novitch recorded a goal and an assist, and graduate student Ellie Hilsabeck, Connolly and Evans each scored once for the Beavers. Connolly led all players with six draw controls, senior Cameron Rabenold had two caused turnovers and Murphy scooped up a game-high four ground balls in the loss. 
• Four of the top five scorers are back from last season for the Beavers, led by Novitch (41-27-68), who was second on the team in goals and points and led the squad in assists. Blake (34-25-59) had a breakout season on attack, Evans (42-12-54) set career highs in all three offensive categories, and Connolly (36-2-38) led Division III in draw controls for the second straight season.
• Manning (48 GB, 33 CT) is the top returning starter on defense in front of Murphy, a three-time All-Conference goalie who posted career-bests of a 7.94 goals against average and a .471 save percentage in 20 starts last season. 

SCOUTING THE BEARS
• Coast Guard (2-1, 0-0 NEWMAC) suffered its first loss of the season on Wednesday at cross-town rival Connecticut College, 15-8, at Cadet Memorial Field. The Bears opened their season with wins over SUNY Maritime (20-4) and Merchant Marine (12-8).
• Senior Caitlyn Coates led the Bears against Conn. College with five points on four goals and an assist, classmate Kira Howard had two goals and two assists, and first-year Reagan Parker and senior Katharine Rott tallied one goal apiece. First-year Rileigh Leary contributed two assists, sophomore Katie Kogler grabbed four draw controls, senior Riley Mullen and junior Hannah Warnke had two caused turnovers each. Mintchwarner made just four saves in goal in the loss.
• Coates (12-4-16) leads the Bears in scoring, junior Abby McAllister (7-6-13) tops the squad in assists, and senior Laine Weber (7-3-10) is tied for second in goals. Coates and Kogler have produced 11 draw controls each, Coates and junior Rowan Walsh have six ground balls apiece, and Walsh has a team-high five caused turnovers.
• Mintchwarner (8.65 GAA, .359 sv. pct) has started all three games for the Bears and made 14 saves.

MURPHY NAMED NEWMAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• After making a career-high 15 saves at No. 1 Middlebury, Murphy was tabbed as the league's defensive player of the week on Monday. 
• The three-time All-Conference goalie stopped 12 shots over the first quarter and a half to keep the Beavers within striking distance of the three-time defending national champions and added four ground balls and one caused turnover.

SUCCESS IN THE NEWMAC 
• The two-time defending NEWMAC Champion Beavers went undefeated (10-0) in NEWMAC regular season play last year and are 72-8 against NEWMAC foes going back to 2016. 
• Over the past eight seasons, Babson is 58-5 versus conference opponents in the regular season and has won 35 of its last 39 road games in league play. 
• The Green and White has finished either first or second in the last seven full seasons (excluding 2021) and has played in each of the last eight NEWMAC Tournament finals, which includes victories in 2017, 2018, 2021, 2023 and 2024.

POLL POSITION
• Coming off back-to-back conference titles, the Beavers were voted first on nine ballots and finished on top in the NEWMAC preseason coaches' poll. 
• No. 18 MIT, which lost 10-7 to Babson in last year's league final, earned the remaining two votes to finish second in the poll, while Springfield, Coast Guard and Smith rounded out the top five.

QUICK ON THE DRAW
• Connolly averaged 10.60 draw controls per game in 2024 to lead Division III for the second year in a row, reaching double digits in 13 of Babson's 20 games.
• Connolly ranks second (228 in 2023) and fourth (212 in 2024) in Division III history in single-season draw controls, joining Kelly McGinniss of Lycoming (239 in 2019) and Holly Hite of Merdith (222 in 2019) in the top four. 
• Her program-record 523 career draw controls rank ninth in Division III history, just 114 behind all-time leader Emily Wadds of Wittenberg, who grabbed 637 from 2016-19.

BEAVER BITES
• Evans has scored at least one goal in 28 consecutive games dating back to 2023, and Novitch has a least one point in 16 straight and a goal in eight in a row going back to last season.
• Connolly has at least five draw controls in 28 games in a row going back to April of 2023.
• Manning has forced at least one turnover in 11 of her last 13 games and scooped up a ground ball in 15 of her last 16 outings.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers are 26-1 since the start of the 2023 season and 68-4 since the start of 2018 when scoring 12 or more goals.
• The Green and White went 15-0 last season and are 69-3 since the start of 2018 when leading at halftime.
• The Beavers went 12-0 last spring when recording 10 or more caused turnovers.
• Babson has won its last 28 games and 38 of its last 39 contests games over the past three seasons when holding its foes to 10 goals or fewer.

UP NEXT
• The Beavers will travel to Roger Williams for a non-conference encounter on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in Bristol, R.I.