NORTHAMPTON, Mass.—Seniors Amelia Novitch (Dover, Mass.) and Kathyn Blake (Medfield, Mass.) combined for five goals and six assists to help No. 13 IWLCA/No. 16 USA Lacrosse Babson College defeat Smith College, 17-11, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's lacrosse action on Saturday afternoon. 

With its third straight win, Babson improves to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in league play. Smith had its two-game winning streak snapped and is now 5-4 overall and 1-1 in the NEWMAC. 

Novitch finished with three goals and three assists, Blake had two goals and three assists, and senior Clare Connolly (Hanover, Mass.) scored three times and led all players with a season-high 13 draw controls to lead the Beavers. Graduate student Ellie Hilsabeck (Hingham, Mass.) and seniors Cameron Rabenold (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Solana Fahey (North Andover, Mass.) each scored twice, classmate Eileen Manning (Needham, Mass.) recorded two caused turnovers and the trio of senior Kathleen Murphy (Scarborough, Maine) and sophomores Morgan McGahan (Ho Ho Kus, N.J.) and Valentina Erigoyen (Miami, Fla.) combined for nine saves in the win. 

Sophomore Kyra Hawk (San Jose, Calif.) scored five goals, senior Sadie Tschider (Piedmont, Calif.) tallied three times and junior Caroline Sanders (Orange County, Calif.) dished out seven assists for the Pioneers. First-year Siena Ferrucci (Weston, Mass.) tied for game-high honors with two caused turnovers and junior Brooke Testa (Pittstown, N.J.) made seven saves in 45 minutes of action. 

Hilsabeck and Blake both scored twice in the opening quarter to help the Green and White build a 5-2 lead at the 3:39 mark. Tschider notched her first goal of the game for Smith just over a minute later before the Beavers responded with a four-goal run that included back-to-back tallies by Fahey to extend their lead to 9-3 on a score by Downer with 12:56 to go in the second. 

First-year Jenna Packzowski (Jupiter, Fla.) and Hawk answered with consecutive markers for the Pioneers, but the momentum was short-lived as Babson scored six times over the final 10:01 of the stanza as the margin swelled to 10 at halftime. Connolly potted three goals, Novitch added two and Rabenold capped the run with her second goal of the afternoon to make it 15-5 with 1:20 to go before the break. 

Tschider cut the Smith deficit to 15-6 with her second goal of the contest less than 90 seconds into the third quarter, but sophomore Mia Fierro (Oswego, N.Y.) converted a feed from junior Lilly Bedard (Jupiter, Fla.) and classmate Tatum Sands (East Dorset, Vt.) finished off a pass from senior Nora Lema (Duxbury, Mass.) to give the Beavers their largest lead of the game at 17-6 with 3:48 remaining in the frame. 

The Green and White finished with the edge in shots (31-26), ground balls (14-13) and draw controls (21-11), and converted 3-of-4 free-position chances. 

Babson is back in action on Sunday when it travels to No. 15/18 Trinity at 1 p.m., while Smith hosts Springfield on Wednesday at 6 p.m. 

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 28-13 all-time against Smith and have won 22 straight games in the series dating back to 2001.
•    Babson is now 18-4 away from home going back to March 30, 2023. 
•    Blake has finished with at least five points in three consecutive games, while Connolly has secured at least five draws in 31 straight games. 
•    The Beavers are now 15-0 over the last two seasons when leading after the first quarter.