BABSON PARK, Mass.— Sophomore Penny Baroni (Dennis, Mass.) had a part in both scores with a goal and an assist as No. 7 Babson College edged No. 22 Swarthmore College, 2-1, in a battle of nationally-ranked field hockey teams Sunday afternoon at MacDowell Field.

With the win, the Beavers improve to 2-0 on the season while the Garnet slip to 1-1.

Senior Caroline DiGiovanni (Harwich, Mass.) also scored for the second straight game for the Beavers. First-year goalie Madison Tibbals (Gorham, Maine) made seven saves in goal in her first career start to earn the victory.

Senior Amelia Landry (Glenville, N.Y.) scored her first goal of the season for the Garnet, and first-year Liza Semenenko (Windlesham, England) registered her first career assist. Senior Cassandra Conklin (Sussex, N.J.) made six saves in goal in the setback.

Babson had a 4-1 shot advantage in the opening quarter but it was Swarthmore that struck first following the first penalty corner of the game with 17 seconds on the clock. Senior Sarah Cooper (Warrington, Pa.) inserted the ball to Semenenko at the top of the arc, and she fired the ball toward the cage, where it was redirected by Landry past Tibbals for a 1-0 Garnet lead with just 12 seconds left in the quarter.

The Beavers had a pair of corners in the second quarter but could not convert until the final minute of the stanza as well. Baroni lifted a free hit off a restart from outside the arc that got past the defense and Conklin, and DiGiovanni batted the loose ball into the goal from the right side with 30 seconds remaining, and the teams went into the break tied 1-1.

Each team managed three shots in the third quarter without scoring, and the visitors had three of the four penalty corners but could not capitalize. The Garnet had three scoring chances early in the fourth quarter but were stymied by Tibbals.

Conklin made a stop on junior Ashley Braren (Westwood, Mass.) with just over 10 minutes remaining, but Babson was awarded a penalty stroke following the play. Baroni stepped up to the dot and ripped a low liner to the left side and into the back of the net for what proved to be the game-winner with 10:13 remaining. Swarthmore managed just one more shot the rest of the way, which was turned aside by Tibbals.

Babson finished with an 11-9 advantage in total shots, while shots on goal were even at 8-8. Swarthmore doubled up the Beavers in penalty corner, 6-3.

The Green and White will be home again next Sunday against another nationally-ranked team, hosting No. 4 Williams at MacDowell Field at 1 p.m. Swarthmore also plays a ranked team in its next outing, visiting No. 14 Rowan on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Glassboro, N.J.

GAME NOTES
• Sunday's game was the first career meeting between the two programs.
• Babson surrendered the first goal of the game for just the sixth time in 49 games since the start of the 2023 season and won for just the second time in those six games.
• The Green and White are now 5-2 since 2022 when the game is tied going into the fourth quarter.
• Baroni has four goals and one assist in two games this season after finishing with five goals and an assist last year.