No. 14/16 Women's Lacrosse vs. Wheaton
Wednesday, April 16 | 6 p.m. 
MacDowell Field | Babson Park, Mass. 

SERIES HISTORY
•    Babson is 29-16 all-time against Wheaton in a series that dates back to 1987. 
•    The Beavers have won nine consecutive games versus the Lyons since 2016, which includes five consecutive victories at MacDowell Field.
•    The Green and White has scored at least 16 goals in each of its last eight games against Wheaton. 

LAST MEETING
•    Senior Amelia Novitch finished with four goals and two assists and classmate Kathyn Blake added three goals and two assists to help Babson cruise past Wheaton 16-5 on April 17, 2024, in Norton, Mass. 
•    Lily Ives M'24 scored three times, Anna Costello M'24 contributed three ground balls and three caused turnovers and three goalies combined to make six saves for the Beavers, who led 15-0 with 9:00 to go in the third quarter. 
•    Avonlea LeBeau finished with two goals, six draw controls and three ground balls, who committed 14 turnovers while attempting just three shots in the first half. 

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
•    No. 14 IWLCA/No. 16 USA Lacrosse (10-2, 7-0 NEWMAC) has won seven consecutive games after rallying for a 12-10 victory at Bowdoin on Sunday afternoon. 
•    Senior Clare Connolly scored four goals and won seven draws, classmate Jessica Evans tallied three times and graduate student Eileen Manning contributed three caused turnovers for the Beavers, who went in front for good with 5:49 remaining in the fourth after trailing 7-3 in the second quarter. 
•    Blake (30-19-49) and Novitch (22-25-47) rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in conference play in points, Connolly (39-0-39) ranks second in Division III in total draw controls (155) and draw controls per game (12.92), and graduate student Ellie Hilsabeck is fourth on the team in scoring with 19 goals and eight assists for 27 points. 
•     Manning leads the Green and White with 17 caused turnovers, Evans (18-7-25) has contributed 19 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers, and senior goalkeeper Kathleen Murphy ranks fourth in the league in goals against average (8.34) and third in save percentage (.493) in 12 starts this spring. 

SCOUTING THE LYONS
•    Wheaton (8-5, 5-2 NEWMAC) has dropped two of its last three games and is coming off a 17-8 loss to Smith last Saturday. 
•    Georgia Qua, Riley Kilbourn and Lara Finnie each scored twice and Sophie Gromala added a goal and two assists for three points for the Lyons, who recorded just three shots on goal while getting outscored 9-1 by the Pioneers over the final two quarters. 
•    Finnie (24-14-38) has a point in 10 consecutive games, Gabs Smart (24-10-34) leads the team with 47 draw controls, 32 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers, and Qua (26-6-32) has produced at least two goals in six of the last eight contests. 
•    Kilee Sherry is second on the team with 11 caused turnovers, Saige Winslow has secured 44 draws and the trio of Jenna Langan, Averie Walton and Katie Geis have combined to post a 10.27 goals against average and a .488 save percentage on the year. 

CONNOLLY REPEATS AS NEWMAC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
•    After producing 15 goals and 35 draw controls to go along with two caused turnovers in a 3-0 week for Babson, Connolly earned her second consecutive conference offensive player of the week award on Monday. 
•    She scored five goals in last week's win over MIT, which includes tying the game late in the fourth quarter before netting the game winner 4:55 into OT, as the Beavers erased a 13-7 deficit for a 14-13 victory. 
•    She followed it up with six goals and 19 draw controls at Framingham State last Friday and then scored four more goals, including the go-ahead marker with under six minutes to go in the win at Bowdoin. 

SENIOR MILESTONES
•    Murphy ranks second all-time among Babson goalkeepers with 53 career wins, which is now just one shy of Sarah Macary's '11 record of 54, in addition to ranking fifth with 466 saves and tied for ninth with 134 ground balls. 
•    Novitch ranks 19th in program history in scoring with 97 goals and 59 assists and needs three more goals and just one assist to become one of just five players in Babson history with at least 100 goals and 60 assists. 
•    Blake is five goals shy of 100 for her career and needs just four points to become the 21st player in school history to reach the 150 mark. 

BEAVERS MAKE JUMP IN NPI RANKINGS
•    Thanks to its 3-0 week, the Green and White moved up seven spots to 25th in the latest NPI rankings released on Monday. 
•    Babson, which is the second-highest ranked team in the NEWMAC behind Springfield (19th), owns six wins against top-100 foes and its only losses have come to top-30 opponents in Middlebury (1st) and Trinity (28th). 
•    The NPI, which was introduced this season, will be used to select the 17 team at-large selections and seed the NCAA Tournament field. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    Babson has won its last 11 games at MacDowell Field and is 12-1 at home going back to the start of last season. 
•    The Beavers own a 28-game NEWMAC winning streak while outscoring their foes 531-149. 
•    The Green and White is 7-0 this season and has won 60 of its last 61 games when holding its opponents to 10 goals or fewer. 
•    Babson is 17-0 since the start of last year when recording 10 or more caused turnovers. 

UP NEXT
•    Babson hosts Springfield on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.