WORCESTER, Mass. — Senior
Ashley Braren (Westwood, Mass.) and first-year
Kate Schneider (Walpole, Mass.) scored two goals each and junior
Penny Baroni (Dennis, Mass.) added a goal and an assist as No. 12 Babson College rolled past Clark University, 8-0, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) field hockey action Saturday afternoon at Granger Field.
With the victory, the Beavers snapped a two-game losing skid and improved to 9-6 overall and 5-1 in the NEWMAC. Clark dropped its fifth game in a row and fell to 5-9 overall and 0-6 in conference play.
Seniors
Helen DiGiovanni (Harwich, Mass.),
Grace Mullaney (Boxford, Mass.) and
Emma Smith (Kenilworth, Ill.) also scored goals for the Beavers, and juniors
Lauren Golden (New Albany, Ohio) and
Charlotte Roe (Wayne, Pa.) and sophomore
Molly DiGiulio (East Amherst, N.Y.) provided assists. Sophomore
Madison Tibbals (Gorham, Maine) and first-year
Carly Spinner (Lafayette Hill, Pa.) each played one half in goal to combine on the shutout for the Beavers, with Spinner making the only save in the fourth quarter.
Senior Rachel Reiter (Millburn, N.J.) had a busy day in the Clark goal, matching her season high with 19 saves, her seventh straight double-digit save performance.
The Beavers jumped out on top with a pair of goals less than five minutes apart in the first quarter. Baroni opened the scoring in the ninth minute, dribbling into the shooting circle and blasting a shot past Reiter into the left corner of the goal, and Mullaney doubled the lead in the 13th minute, punching in a rebound after Reiter made a stop on a shot by junior
Taylor Shoflick (Greenwood Village, Colo.).
The Green and White increased its lead in the second quarter on Smith's goal after a penalty corner. Golden found Smith open inside the right side of the arc, and Smith unloaded a shot that went past Reiter inside the far post. Clark managed a series of shots after a penalty corner of its own later in the period but couldn't get any shots on goal and Babson took a 3-0 lead into the intermission.
Babson broke the game open with four goals in a five minute span in the third quarter. DiGiovanni picked up a loose ball after a Clark turnover and smashed a shot past Reiter in the 32nd minute, and Braren deflected in a ball from the far post on a shot by DiGiulio just 22 seconds later. Schneider then scored twice in a span of 14 seconds, poking in a shot near the right post in the 38th minute before bursting past the Clark defense on the ensuing possession to beat Reiter 1-on-1 to make it 7-0.
Braren tacked on her second goal early in the fourth quarter with a reverse shot through traffic to round out the scoring.
The visitors finished with a 42-6 advantage in total shots. The Beavers also had a 14-3 margin in penalty corners.
After three straight road clashes, the Beavers return home to host Springfield in a NEWMAC match-up Tuesday at 6 p.m. on MacDowell Field. Clark is also back in action on Tuesday at Wellesley at 6 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers have won the last 22 matchups against Clark going back to 2004 and own a 25-15-2 advantage over the Cougars in the all-time series that dates back to 1985.
• Babson has outscored the opponents in its six NEWMAC wins this season, 32-2.
• DiGiovanni (11) and Baroni (10) are now second and tied for third in the NEWMAC in goals.
• Braren became the sixth different Babson player to score at least two goals in a game this season.
