No. 14/13 Women's Lacrosse vs. MIT
NEWMAC Tournament Final
Saturday, May 3 | 1:00 p.m.
MacDowell Field | Babson Park, Mass.

WHAT TO KNOW
• Babson will be seeking a third straight tournament championship and fourth title in five years Saturday in the NEWMAC finale at 1 p.m. at MacDowell Field.
• The top-seeded Beavers are playing in the title game for the ninth straight year and will host second-seeded MIT for the third year in a row.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 40-6 all-time against MIT in a series that dates back to 1988.
• The Beavers have won 10 of the last 12 games against the Engineers since 2016.
• Nine of the last 11 matchups between the teams have been decided by three goals or fewer.
• The Green and White have defeated the Engineers in four straight post-season games at home but have lost two of the last three regular season matchups at MacDowell Field since 2018.

LAST MEETING
• Senior Clare Connolly scored five of the last six goals, including the overtime game-winner, as No. 14/16 Babson rallied from a 13-7 deficit late in the third quarter to edge MIT, 14-13, on April 9, 2025 at MacDowell Field.
• Connolly finished with a game-high five goals and nine draw controls, while senior Amelia Novitch registered three goals, three assists and a team-high four ground balls, and classmate Kathryn Blake ended up with three goals and two assists for the Beavers. Senior Jessica Evans collected three caused turnovers, three ground balls and three draw controls, and sophomore Claire Jones contributed four draw controls, two caused turnovers and three ground balls in the win. Senior Kathleen Murphy made nine saves in goal to record the victory.
• Junior Ashley Thomas led the Engineers with six points on two goals and four assists, and senior Julianne Flusche finished with three goals and three assists along with seven draw controls and three caused turnovers, and junior Annica Lam potted three goals and scooped up four ground balls. Senior Sydney Pyon and sophomore Jillian Butler contributed a goal and an assist each, and sophomore Pauline Vien was outstanding in goal, finishing with 14 saves in the setback.

LAST YEAR IN THE FINAL
• Lily Ives M'24 and 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 final on May 4, 2024, at MacDowell Field.
• Costello was selected the tournament's Most Outstanding Player as the Beaver defense withstood a strong second-half MIT rally. Ives finished with three goals, Novitch contributed two goals and two assists, and senior Jessica Evans chipped in with a goal and an assist. Connolly and senior Michaela Downer scored once each, and Connolly dominated the draws with a game-high 13 draw controls. Murphy made 10 saves in goal in the win.
• Thomas scored three goals and junior Nina Petulla tallied two goals and two assists for MIT. Ellie Rabenold '24 and Flusche scored once each as the Engineers scored five times on free position shots. Junior Molly Dulde and Vien combined to make nine saves in goal in the setback.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (14-2, 10-0 NEWMAC), ranked 14th in Division III by the IWLCA and 13th by USA Lacrosse Magazine, extended its winning streak to 11 games in Wednesday's 16-14 win over Coast Guard in the NEWMAC semifinals at MacDowell Field.
• Connolly (5g), Blake (4g, 1a), and Evans (3g, 2a) registered five points apiece, and Connolly (10 DC) and Evans (6 DC) controlled the draws for the Beavers.  Novitch and senior Solana Fahey chipped in with two goals and one assist each, and Murphy made eight saves in goal to secure the win.
• The Beavers have a balanced offensive attack led by Novitch (34-34-68) and Blake (44-21-65), while Connolly (49-2-51) leads the team in goals and tops the NEWMAC in draw controls (207). Hilsabeck (29-10-39), Evans (24-9-33) and Downer (23-8-31) give the Green and White six players with at least 23 goals and 31 points.
• Manning (23 caused turnovers) leads a defense that has allowed just 8.2 goals per game. Murphy has a 8.43 goals against average and career-best .507 save percentage with 106 saves, 28 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers in the crease.

SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS
• MIT (12-7, 9-1 NEWMAC) advanced to the title game with its sixth straight win, a 9-6 victory over third-seeded Springfield on Wednesday in Cambridge.
• Junior Gwen Flusche tallied three goals, an assist, and four draw controls, Lam (2g, 1a) and Thomas (1g, 2a) added three points apiece, and a player-advantage goal by Petulla with five minutes remaining in regulation created enough of a cushion for the Engineers. Pyon contributed two caused turnovers and three ground balls, and Vien collected 11 saves for MIT in the victory.
• Thomas leads the NEWMAC in scoring with 107 points on 47 goals and 60 assists, and Lam (64-17-81) tops the league in goals. J. Flusche (46-12-58, 54 DC, 32 GB) and G. Flusche (30-20-50, 90 DC, 42 GB) are both 50-point scorers and strong players on the draw, and Pyon (35-9-44) is also an offensive threat. Butler (24) and Pyon (22) lead the team in caused turnovers.
• Vien has started all 19 games between the pipes for the Engineers and has a 9.42 goals against average and a .504 save percentage with 120 saves.

NEWMAC TOURNEY HISTORY
• The two teams are meeting in the postseason for the 13th time going back to 1998 and the third straight year in the final.
• The Beavers are 12-0 all-time against the Engineers in the NEWMAC tournament, including  five wins in the quarterfinals, five wins in the semifinals, and victories in the final the past two years.
• Babson has claimed 10 NEWMAC championships (2007-11, 2017-18, 2021, 2023-24).

SUCCESS IN THE NEWMAC 
• Babson has won 32 consecutive games against NEWMAC opponents going back to 2023 and is 83-8 against conference foes as far back as 2016.
• The Green and White have outscored the conference opponents 215-78 in the 11 wins this season.

SENIOR MILESTONES
• Evans scored her 100th career goal on Wednesday and now has 102, joining teammates Novitch (111), Blake (111) and Connolly (107) who all reached the century mark this season.
• Novitch (70) has moved up to fifth on the career assist mark, and Blake (56) is 11th.
• Murphy owns the program record for victories with a 57-19 mark, ranks second in minutes with 4092, and fifth in saves (501). She currently ranks in the top-five all-time with a 9.19 goals against average and a .444 save percentage.

POST-SEASON NUMBERS
• Evans has recorded 31 points (25g, 6a) in nine post-season games over the last three seasons, while Novitch has 22 points (17g, 5a) and Blake has 17 points (13g, 4a) in those nine games.
• Connolly has collected 87 draw controls in nine post-season games the past three years, and Manning has accumulated 16 caused turnovers and 20 ground balls over 11 career playoff games.
• Murphy has a 8-3 career record in 11 postseason starts with a 10.40 goals against average and a .445 save percentage.

BEAVER BITES
• Novitch has four straight and eight multi-goal performances in her last nine games, totaling 12 games this season with at least two goals.
• Blake has scored at least two goals in 15 of her 16 games this spring, with a season-high five goals against both Coast Guard and Wellesley.
• Connolly has a team-high 10-game scoring streak.
• The Division III all-time leader in draw controls, Connolly has moved up to second all-time in all divisions with 730, trailing only Maddie Jenner of Duke (791 from 2019-23).

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson is 12-0 this season and 27-0 over the past two seasons when leading at halftime.
• The Beavers are 14-0 this season and 40-1 over the past three seasons when scoring 12 or more goals.
• The Green and White are 10-0 this season and 23-0 dating back to last season when recording more ground balls than their opponents.

UP NEXT
• The winner of Saturday's game will receive the NEWMAC's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III championship tournament, with the field to be announced on Monday at 10:30 a.m. on NCAA.com.