NORTON, Mass. — Junior
Penny Baroni (Dennis, Mass.) registered her fourth straight hat trick and first-year
Kate Schneider (Walpole, Mass.) contributed two goals and two assists for a season-high six points as No. 18 Babson College overpowered Wheaton College, 9-0, in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) field hockey regular season finale Saturday afternoon at Nordin Field.
With the victory, the Beavers wrap up the regular season with their fifth consecutive lopsided victory, improving to 13-6 overall and 8-1 in the NEWMAC, while Wheaton concludes its season at 10-8 overall and 4-5 in conference games. Babson earned a share of the NEWMAC regular season title with MIT, both schools with identical conference records.
Seniors
Helen DiGiovanni (Harwich, Mass.),
Emma Smith (Kenilworth, Ill.), and
Ashley Braren (Westwood, Mass.), along with sophomore
Brooke Willey (Goshen, Ky.) each scored one goal for the Beavers. Junior
Taylor Shoflick (Greenwood Village, Colo.) contributed a pair of assists and senior
Grace Mullaney (Boxford, Mass.) and junior
Lauren Golden (New Albany, Ohio) chipped in with one assist each.
The Lyons, who were outshot by a 31-4 count, used three keepers on the day. Senior Grace Ferguson (Williston, Vt.) made seven saves in the first half, and junior Elise LeBlanc (Hampstead, N.H.) and sophomore Molly Braica (New Boston, N.H.) each made three stops in one quarter of play in the second half.
Baroni recorded a natural hat trick in the first half with one goal in the first quarter and the first two of the second stanza. She converted a feed from Schneider in the 14th minute and buried another pass from Schneider in the 17th minute to put the Beavers up 2-0.
After Baroni scored on a penalty corner early in the second stanza on a crossing pass from Golden, DiGiovanni deflected a loose ball in front of the net to make it 4-0 in the 25th minute. Braren redirected a ball from Shoflick with two minutes remaining in the half, and Schneider made it 6-0 with her first of the game with 10 seconds to go in the half.
The Beavers kept the pressure on the Wheaton goal and Willey and Smith posted goals less than two minutes apart late in the third quarter, and Schneider rounded out the scoring with her second of the game in the 57th minute.
Babson secured the second seed in next week's NEWMAC Tournament and after a first-round bye, will take on the winner of Tuesday's game between sixth-seeded Springfield and third-seeded Wellesley on Thursday at MacDowell Field.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers have won the last 11 and 15 of the last 16 games against Wheaton and have a 30-12-1 advantage over the Lyons in the all-time series that dates back to 1986.
• Babson finished the regular season in first place or tied for first in the NEWMAC for the 11th consecutive season dating back to 2015.
• The Beavers have outscored their opponents 36-1 in their five-game winning streak to end the regular season.
• After scoring 10 goals in her first 15 games this season, Baroni has potted four straight hat tricks with 13 goals in those four outings.
