WORCESTER, Mass.— First-year
Julia Krepelka (Arlington, Mass.) scored her first two collegiate goals in the first quarter and No. 7 Babson College went on to a 4-0 victory over WPI in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) field hockey action Saturday afternoon at H. Carr Field.
With the victory, the Beavers have won five of their last six games, including four by shutout, to improve to 7-3 overall and 3-0 in the NEWMAC. WPI had its two-game winning streak stopped and dropped to 5-6 on the season while suffering its first conference loss and is now 3-1.
First-year
Kate Schneider (Walpole, Mass.) and junior
Penny Baroni (Dennis, Mass.) also scored for the Beavers, and seniors
Helen DiGiovanni (Harwich, Mass.) and
Emma Smith (Kenilworth, Ill.) and junior
Lauren Golden (New Albany, Ohio) registered assists.
Junior Myles Lakin (Reading, Mass.) had a busy day in the WPI goal and finished with a season-high 13 saves. reaching double figures in stops for the fourth time this season and the 10th time in her career.
Babson controlled the opening 15 minutes, putting 11 shots toward the WPI cage and earning six penalty corners. Lakin turned aside early attempts by sophomore
Molly DiGiulio (East Amherst, N.Y.), Golden and DiGiovanni before the Beavers broke through at 8:29. Krepelka scored her first goal of the season off a penalty corner, with Golden providing the assist. Krepelka doubled the advantage just 90 seconds later, finishing a feed from DiGiovanni.
The Beavers continued to pressure in the second quarter, with Lakin making three more saves before Schneider converted a pass from Smith at 28:23, which was Smith's team-leading fifth assist. Lakin denied Schneider, junior
Taylor Shoflick (Greenwood Village, Colo.) and Golden during the period, keeping WPI within three entering halftime.
Babson added its fourth goal just 2:35 into the third quarter when Baroni scored off a penalty corner, with the shot deflecting off a WPI defender and into the cage. Lakin continued to battle in the cage, making five saves in the period, including three in succession on attempts by senior
Ashley Braren (Westwood, Mass.).
Lakin made two more saves in the fourth quarter, turning aside Braren and Golden, as the Beavers maintained control to secure the shutout.
The Green and White finished with a 27-0 advantage in shots and a 17-0 edge in shots on goal, while earning 14 penalty corners to none for WPI.
Babson heads to Cambridge Tuesday for a 6 p.m. conference contest at MIT. WPI is off until next Saturday when the Engineers travel to Mount Holyoke for a noon NEWMAC match-up.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers have won 15 in a row with 10 shutouts over the Engineers and have a 30-15 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 1985.
• Krepelka became the fifth Babson player this season to score twice in one game, joining DiGiovanni, Baroni, Golden and Schneider.
• The Green and White have outscored their opponents 28-1 in their seven victories this season with six shutouts.
• Babson extended its NEWMAC regular season winning streak to 80 games dating back to 2015.
(Courtesy of contributions from WPI Athletic Communications)
