No. 14/15 Women's Lacrosse vs. Springfield
Saturday, April 19 | 12:30 p.m.
MacDowell Field| Babson Park, Mass.

WHAT TO KNOW
• Babson will host Springfield on Saturday in a battle between two of the top three teams in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) this season.
• A win for the Beavers would likely lock up the regular season crown and a first-round bye in the conference tournament, while a victory by the Pride would likely set up a two- or three-way tie for the NEWMAC regular season crown.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 23-21 all-time against Springfield in the all-time series that dates back to 1997.
• The Beavers have won three in a row over the Pride and eight of the last 12 going back to 2017.
• The Green and White have captured 12 of the last 15 games in Babson Park dating back to 2007.

LAST MEETING
• Senior Clare Connolly scored four times and led all players with 16 draw controls and No. 18 Babson opened the second quarter with seven consecutive goals on the way to defeating Springfield 16-9 on April 20, 2024, at Stagg Field in Springfield.
• Lily Ives M'24 and senior Amelia Novitch both finished with three goals and one assist, senior Jessica Evans also scored three times and classmate Kathryn Blake added a goal and two assists to lead the Beavers. Anna Costello M'24, Zoë Michaud '24 and graduate student Eileen Manning all had two caused turnovers, while senior Kathleen Murphy finished one shy of her season high with 12 saves. 
• Sophomore Izzy Lalancette tallied four goals and junior Lily Johnson scored twice and dished out two assists for the Pride. Graduate student Hannah Hibbert led all players with three forced turnovers and tied for game-high honors with three ground balls, while Haley Moody '24 turned away 12 shots in goal in the defeat. 

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (11-2, 8-0 NEWMAC), ranked 14th in Division III by the IWLCA and 15th by USA Lacrosse Magazine, brings an eight-game winning streak into the weekend after a 19-6 victory over Wheaton on Wednesday at MacDowell Field.
• Novitch, Blake, senior Michaela Downer and graduate student Ellie Hilsabeck scored three goals apiece for the Beavers, and Novitch added a pair of assists and Blake chipped in with one assist. Senior Solana Fahey contributed two goals, Connolly grabbed eight draw controls, and Murphy and sophomore Morgan McGahan made nine and three saves, respectively, in goal in the victory.
• The Beavers have a strong 1-2 punch on offense with Blake (33-20-53) and Novitch (25-27-52), while Connolly (40-0-40) leads the team in goals and tops the NEWMAC in draw controls (163). Hilsabeck (22-8-30), Downer (19-8-27), and Evans (19-7-26) give the Green and White six players with at least 19 goals and 26 points.
• Graduate student Eileen Manning (18 caused turnovers) leads a defense that has allowed just 8.1 goals per game. Murphy has a 8.03 goals against average and a career-best .513 save percentage with 23 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers in the crease.

SCOUTING THE PRIDE
• Springfield (12-2, 7-1 NEWMAC) had its nine-game winning streak snapped in Wednesday's 13-11 loss to MIT in Cambridge.
• Senior Samantha Andresen led the Pride with four goals, classmate Lilly Vey scored three times, and Johnson and Lalancette added two goals each. Johnson collected five draw controls, Hilbert registered three caused turnovers and three ground balls, and graduate student Kate Laico made 11 saves in the setback.
• Johnson (32-12-44) leads the team in scoring, Andresen (35-2-37) tops the squad in goals, and Lalancette (28-7-35) and senior Isabella Mazzi (8-23-31) give the Pride four 30-point scorers. Vey (19-6-25), first-year Claire Ognibene (16-9-25) and graduate student Maddie Roy (17-7-24) give the Pride a balanced attack, and Andresen (52), Roy (46), Hibbert (33) and Johnson (29) all have at least 29 draw controls.
• Hibbert (18 CT, 22 GB) and graduate student Kyana Alvarado (14 CT, 27 GB) anchor a strong defense for the Pride. Laico has started all 14 games in goal, posting a 6.75 goals against average and a .524 save percentage with 89 saves.

CONNOLLY REPEATS AS NEWMAC OFFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
• For the second week in a row, Connolly was honored on Monday as the NEWMAC Offensive Player of the Week.
• Connolly notched a pair of game-winning tallies in a 3-0 week and finished with 15 goals and 35 draw controls. She scored five of the final six goals in an overtime victory over MIT, including the tying goal late in the fourth quarter and the game-winner in OT, as well as the go-ahead tally in the fourth quarter as the Green and White rallied to edge Bowdoin on Sunday.

A PEAK AT THE NEWMAC STANDINGS
• Babson (8-0) is the last remaining undefeated two in conference play while Springfield (7-1) and MIT (7-1) go into the weekend tied for second.
• Smith (6-3) has a half-game lead in the race for fourth place and the final home-field berth in the first round of the playoffs, while Wheaton (5-3) and Coast Guard (5-3) are still in the mix. Clark (3-5) is in position to receive the final playoff berth.

SUCCESS IN THE NEWMAC 
• Babson has won 29 consecutive games against NEWMAC opponents going back to 2023 and is 78-8 against conference foes as far back as 2016.
• The Green and White have outscored the opponents 158-52 in the eight conference wins this season.

SENIOR MILESTONES
• Novitch notched her 100th this week and is now one of just five players in Babson history with at least 100 goals and 60 assists (102-63-165).
• Blake also achieve the 100-point milestone for her career (100-55-155) and became the 21st player in school history to reach the 150 mark.
• Murphy moved into a tie for first all-time among Babson goalkeepers with 54 career wins, equaling the mark set by Sarah Macary '11, in addition to ranking fifth with 475 saves. 

BEAVER BITES
• Blake has scored at least two goals in 12 of her 13 games this spring. 
• Novitch has a least one point in 28 straight going back to last season.
• After becoming the Division III all-time leader in draw controls this season, she has moved up to second all-time in all divisions with 686, trailing only Maddie Jenner of Duke (791 from 2019-23).

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson has won its last 36 games and 61 of its last 62 contests this decade when holding its foes to 10 goals or fewer.
• The Beavers are 11-0 this season and 37-1 over the past three seasons when scoring 12 or more goals.
• The Beavers have gone 17-0 since the start of last season when recording 10 or more caused turnovers.
• The Green and White have won their last 24 games since last season when leading at halftime.

UP NEXT
• The Beavers will wrap up the regular season on Wednesday at crosstown rival Wellesley at 7 p.m. at Butler Stadium.