BABSON PARK, Mass. — Junior
Penny Baroni (Dennis, Mass.) tallied a career-high four goals and senior
Helen DiGiovanni (Harwich, Mass.) scored twice as No. 17 Babson College blanked Springfield College, 6-0, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) field hockey action Tuesday evening at MacDowell Field.
With the victory, the Beavers won their second in a row and improved to 10-6 overall and 6-1 in the NEWMAC, while Springfield had a two-game winning streak snapped and fell to 8-7 overall and 2-5 in conference play. The triumph marked career win No. 300 for Babson head coach
Julie Ryan, the 32nd coach in Division III field hockey history to reach the milestone.
Seniors
Grace Mullaney (Boxford, Mass.) also had an outstanding game for the Beavers, registering a career-high four assists, and junior
Taylor Shoflick (Greenwood Village, Colo.) chipped in with one assist. Sophomore
Madison Tibbals (Gorham, Maine) and first-year
Carly Spinner (Lafayette Hill, Pa.) combined on the shutout without making a save as the Beavers prevented a single shot by the Pride.
Sophomore Sam Orcutt (Forestdale, Mass.) held down the Springfield goal and finished with eight saves for the Pride.
After a quiet first quarter that featured just three Babson shots and a pair of penalty corners, the Beavers took command in the second quarter with four goals in an eight-minute span. Mullaney passed the ball from the right corner to DiGiovanni at the near post, and she bunted the ball out of midair and over the goalie in the 16th minute for a 1-0 lead.
The second goal came on a penalty corner in the 20th minute. Mullaney inserted the corner from the left side directly to Baroni, who fired a rocket from the left side of the circle through traffic into the back of the goal. Babson scored again in the 22nd minute after Shoflick intercepted a Springfield pass and fed Baroni in the arc, and she ripped a hard shot inside left post for a 3-0 advantage.
The Green and White finished their second-quarter splurge in the 24th minute when DiGiovanni beat a defender in the left side of the circle and hit a reverse chip inside far post for her second of the game to make it 4-0 with six minutes remaining in the half.
After an uneventful third quarter that included one shot by Babson and a penalty corner for each team, the Beavers put the game away with a pair of fourth-quarter strikes on penalty corners. After Mullaney's feed, Baroni fired a hard shot from distance inside the right post in the 52nd minute and capped the scoring in the 56th minute with her fourth of the evening, firing a shot from the top of the circle inside the left post.
Babson finished with a 20-0 advantage in total shots and 14-0 in shots on target. The Beavers also had a 10-1 margin in penalty corners.
The Beavers head to Rhode Island on Saturday to take on Salve Regina at noon in Middletown, R.I. Springfield returns home to host Wheaton on Saturday at noon at Stagg Field.
GAME NOTES
• Babson has won 19 in a row over the Pride and owns a 24-18 lead against Springfield in the all-time series that dates back to 1996.
• The Beavers have outscored their opponents in their seven NEWMAC wins this season, 38-2.
• Baroni (14) and DiGiovanni (13) have combined for 27 of the Beavers' 53 goals this season.
• Coach Ryan upped her career record to 300-106 (.739), which ranks 10th among Division III active coaches in victories and ninth in winning percentage among active coaches with at least 10 years on the sideline.
