No. 14/16 Women's Lacrosse vs. MIT
Wednesday, April 9 | 6:00 p.m.
MacDowell Field| Babson Park, Mass.

WHAT TO KNOW
• Babson will host MIT on Wednesday in a battle between two of the three teams that remain unbeaten in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play this season.
• The Beavers and Engineers have met in the last two conference championship games and were picked first (Babson) and second (MIT) in this year's NEWMAC preseason coaches' poll.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 39-6 all-time against MIT in a series that dates back to 1988.
• The Beavers have won nine of the last 11 games against the Engineers since 2016.
• Eight of the last 10 matchups between the teams have been decided by three goals or fewer.
• The Green and White have defeated the Engineers in three straight post-season games at home but have lost the last two regular season matchups at MacDowell Field in 2018 and 2023.

LAST MEETING
• Lily Ives M'24 and senior Amelia Novitch combined for five goals and two assists and Anna Costello M'24 and Zoë Michaud '24 each caused four turnovers as top-seeded and No. 16 Babson edged second-seeded and No. 20 MIT, 10-7, in the NEWMAC tournament final on May 4, 2024, at MacDowell Field.
• Novitch contributed two goals and two assists, senior Jessica Evans chipped in with a goal and an assist, and classmates Clare Connolly and Michaela Downer scored once each. Connolly dominated the draws with a game-high 13 draw controls, and fellow senior Kathleen Murphy made 10 saves in goal in the win.
• Junior Ashley Thomas scored three goals and classmate Nina Petulla contributed two goals and two assists. Ellie Rabenold '24 and senior Julianne Flusche scored once each as the Engineers scored five times on free position shots. Junior Molly Dulde and sophomore Pauline Vien combined to make nine saves in goal in the setback.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (7-2, 6-0 NEWMAC), ranked 14th in Division III by the IWLCA and 16th by USA Lacrosse Magazine, has captured four consecutive lopsided victories following a 19-7 verdict at Salve Regina on Saturday in Newport, R.I.
• Connolly produced career-highs of seven goals and 24 draw controls and broke the NCAA Division III record for career draw controls in the victory. The Beavers also got four goals and two assists from Evans, three goals and two helpers from classmate Kathryn Blake, and two goals and two assists from Novitch. Fellow senior Nora Lema collected a game-high three assists, Blake recorded a team-high two caused turnovers and three ground balls, and Murphy finished with six saves in 45 minutes between the pipes.
• Blake (25-13-38) leads the team in goals and Novitch (17-16-35) tops the squad in assists in a balanced scoring attack for the Beavers. Connolly (24-0-24) is second on the team in goals and leads the NEWMAC with 120 draw controls. Hilsabeck (16-6-22), Downer (14-7-21), and Evans (14-6-20) give the Green and White six players with at least 14 goals and 20 points.
• Graduate student Eileen Manning (11 caused turnovers) leads a defense that has allowed just 7.7 goals per game. Murphy has a 7.96 goals against average and a career-best .519 save percentage with 20 ground balls and eight caused turnovers in the crease. 

SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS
• MIT (6-6, 5-0 NEWMAC) followed up last Saturday's 23-2 rout at Mount Holyoke with a 15-5 loss to No. 6 Wesleyan on Sunday in Cambridge.
• Julianne Flusche scored two goals, first-year Alexis Reinard added a goal and an assist and Thomas contributed a pair of helpers for the Engineers, who led Wesleyan 4-2 at the half before being outscored 11-0 in the third quarter. Reinard finished with two draw controls and two ground balls, junior Gwen Flusche and first-year Kelsey Dwyer scooped up three ground balls, and sophomore Pauline Vien recorded three ground balls and 13 saves in goal in the setback.
• Thomas (26-34-60) leads the NEWMAC in points while junior Annica Lam (36-10-46) is third in the league in goals. Julianne Flusche (30-5-35), Gwen Flusche (17-13-30), senior Sydney Pyon (18-6-24) and Petulla (14-6-20) give MIT a potent scoring attack, and G. Flusche (47), sophomore Jillian Butler (33), and J. Flusche (32) are all strong on draw controls.
• Pyon (14) and Butler (13) have combined for 27 caused turnovers. Vien has started all 12 games in goal, posting a 10.75 goals against average and a .456 save percentage with 67 saves.

CONNOLLY NAMED NEWMAC OFFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
• A week after being named the USA Lacrosse Magazine Division III Player of the Week, Connolly was honored again on Monday with the NEWMAC Offensive Player of the Week award. 
• The Beaver senior finished the week with nine goals and 42 draw controls on the way to becoming the all-time Division III leader with 643 draw controls. She capped the week with career-highs of seven goals and 24 draw controls in Saturday's 19-7 win at Salve Regina.
• After surpassing the previous Division III record of 637 draw controls held by Emily Wadds of Wittenberg, Connolly ranks third in NCAA history in all divisions, trailing only Jessica Karwacki of Robert Morris (645 from 2013-16) and Maddie Jenner of Duke (791 from 2019-23).

A PEAK AT THE NEWMAC STANDINGS
• Babson (6-0), Springfield (6-0) and MIT (5-0) all enter the week unbeaten in conference play, with Wheaton (4-1) holding down fourth place.
• Smith (3-3) and Coast Guard (2-3) are in fifth and sixth place, respectively, with Mount Holyoke (1-4), Salve Regina (1-4), Emerson (1-5), and Clark (1-5) fighting for the final playoff berth.
• Key conference games remaining after Wednesday are Springfield at MIT on April 16 and Springfield at Babson on April 19.

SUCCESS IN THE NEWMAC 
• Babson has won 27 consecutive games against NEWMAC opponents going back to 2023 and is 76-8 against conference foes as far back as 2016.
• The Green and White have outscored the opponents 125-33 in the five conference wins this season.

BEAVER BITES
• Blake has scored at least two goals in all nine contests this spring, including a season-high five in the win over Coast Guard. 
• Evans has registered at least one point in 36 consecutive games dating back to 2023, and Novitch has a least one point in 24 straight going back to last season.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson has won its last 34 games and 44 of its last 44 contests games over the past four seasons when holding its foes to 10 goals or fewer.
• The Beavers are 7-0 this season and 33-1 over the past three seasons when scoring 12 or more goals.
• The Beavers have gone 16-0 since the start of last season when recording 10 or more caused turnovers.
• The Green and White have won their last 22 games since last season when leading at halftime.

UP NEXT
• The Beavers will play back-to-back non-conference road games beginning Friday at Framingham State at 4:30 p.m.