Women's Lacrosse vs. Smith
NEWMAC Tournament Quarterfinal
Saturday, April 25 | 1 p.m. 
MacDowell Field | Babson Park, Mass. 

SERIES HISTORY
•    Babson is 29-13 all-time against Smith in a series that dates back to 1987.
•    The Beavers have won 23 consecutive games against the Bears since 2001. 
•    The Green and White has won 13 straight contests versus Smith at MacDowell Field since suffering a NEWMAC Tournament quarterfinal loss back in 2001. 

POSTSEASON HISTORY
•    Saturday's contest will be the first between Babson and Smith in the NEWMAC Tournament since 2004.
•    The Beavers and Bears have split four previous conference tournament matchups with Babson winning quarterfinals in 1997 and 2004 and Smith coming out victorious in 1994 and 2001 quarterfinal matchups. 

LAST MEETING
•    First-year Hailey Murray scored four goals and senior Lilly Bedard finished with three goals and four assists for seven points, all in the first half, as the Beavers cruised past Smith, 16-8, on March 28 in Babson Park. 
•    Sophomore Estelle Gromko and first-year Grace Rooney both contributed three goals, two ground balls and one caused turnover, while sophomore Courtney Laden added two goals, four draw controls and three caused turnovers for Babson, which led 10-2 at halftime. 
•    Kyra Hawk scored three second half goals, Caroline Sanders finished with two goals and three assists for five points to go along with six draw controls, and Yasmin Grant had three caused turnovers for the Bears, who used a four-goal run to get as close as 10-6 midway through the third quarter. 

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
•    Fourth-seeded Babson (10-6) enters the tournament with a three-game winning streak after defeating Wheaton, 13-9, on Wednesday night. 
•    Laden scored four times in the first half, Bedard and Rooney both had three goals, and first-year goalkeeper Francesca Tamburini made a season-high eight saves for the Beavers, who built a 9-2 advantage late in the second quarter and never allowed the Lyons to get closer than four in the second half. 
•    Bedard (33-33-66) ranks fourth in the league in assists and eighth in points, first-year Jenna Wong (36-4-40) has scored multiple goals in five of the last six games and Laden (28-1-29) has 12 goals over the last four games and leads the team with 57 draw controls, 24 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers. 
•    Rooney (23-1-24) has produced four consecutive multi-goal games, sophomores Charleigh Newman (23 GB, 12 CT) and Mackenzie Cassler (19 GB, 11 CT) have both started 16 games on defense, and junior goalkeeper Morgan McGahan ranks third in the NEWMAC in goals against average (8.65) to go along with a .423 save percentage in 13 starts this spring. 

SCOUTING THE BEARS
•    Fifth-seeded Smith (10-7) had won two straight games before suffering at 20-2 loss at No. 24/15 MIT in its regular season finale on Wednesday evening. 
•    Layne Fitzgerald scored late in the first quarter, Jenna Paczkowski tallied early in the third and Shannon Houtenville made six saves over the final three quarters for the Bears, who were successful on just 15-of-26 clears and trailed 14-1 at halftime. 
•    Hawk (58-8-66), who had her 22-game goal streak snapped in the loss at MIT, ranks fourth in the conference in goals and eighth in points, Sanders (35-19-54) leads the team with 79 draw controls, 41 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers, and Fitzgerald (35-3-38) has scored 10 goals over the last three games. 
•    Leigh Hillmanno (17 CTs) and Grant (15 CTs) are second and third, respectively, on the team in forced turnovers, while Brooke Testa owns a 10.69 goals against average and a .462 save percentage in 15 starts on the year. 

BABSON IN THE POSTSEASON
•    The Beavers have advanced to each of the last nine NEWMAC Tournament championship games and have claimed 10 conference titles (2007-11, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2023, 2024) over the last two decades. 
•    Babson is 10-3 in conference playoff games at MacDowell Field since 2016. 
•    The Beavers are 11-4 all-time in the conference quarterfinals although Saturday's matchup with Smith marks their first quarterfinal contest since 2015.  
•    The last time the Green and White entered the post season as the fourth seed it defeated MIT and Wheaton before falling to Springfield in the tournament final back in 2013. 

MOVING UP THE CHARTS
•    Bedard's 66 points are a career high and she needs four more to become the 20th player in program history to reach 70 points in a season. 
•    Wong's 36 goals are the most for a Babson first-year since Kaitlyn Pettengill '10 scored 50 goals in 2007 and Jackie Godfrey '09 scored 43 goals in 2006.
•    Bedard's 33 assists this spring rank eighth on the school's single-season list and her 48 career helpers are tied for 15th in Babson history. 
•    Laden's 57 draw controls are good for 19th on the Beavers' single-season chart. 

WHAT TO WATCH FOR
•    Babson dominated the opening half in its regular season victory as Smith committed 17 turnovers while attempting just four shots over the first two quarters, and forced the Bears into a season-high 29 turnovers in the contest.
•    The Beavers were a perfect 5-for-5 on free-position chances in the win and four of their five fourth-quarter goals were free-position tallies. 
•    The Green and White was successful on 16-of-19 clears, while the Bears converted just 15-of-25 chances, which includes going 8-of-15 in the first half. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    The Beavers are 7-2 at home this season, which includes a perfect 5-0 mark versus NEWMAC foes. 
•    Babson has held the lead after the first quarter in eight of its 10 wins on the year.
•    The Green and White is 10-0 this spring when winning more draw controls than its foes. 
•    The Beavers are 8-0 this season and 49-1 going back to the start of the 2023 campaign when scoring at least 12 goals. 

UP NEXT
•    The winner of Saturday's contest will travel to top-seeded MIT for the NEWMAC semifinals next Wednesday at 6 p.m.