Women's Lacrosse at No. 24/15 MIT
NEWMAC Tournament Semifinal
Wednesday, April 29 | 6 p.m. 
Jack Berry Field | Cambridge, Mass. 

SERIES HISTORY
•    Babson is 40-8 all-time against MIT in a series that dates back to 1988. 
•    The Beavers are 10-4 since 2016 but has dropped back-to-back meetings versus the Engineers going back to last year's NEWMAC Tournament final. 
•    Ten of the last 15 games between the teams have been decided by three goals or fewer. 
•    The Green and White's regular season loss snapped its 13-game winning streak in Cambridge, a run that dated all the way back to 1997. 

POSTSEASON HISTORY
•    Babson and MIT will meet for the 14th time overall and for the fifth consecutive season in the conference playoffs on Wednesday night. 
•    The Beavers are 12-1 all-time against the Engineers in the postseason but suffered a 16-6 loss in last year's NEWMAC Tournament final played in Babson Park. 
•    The Green and White and MIT played in three straight finals from 2023-25 in addition to meeting twice in the semifinals (2016, 2022) over the last decade. 
•    The only previous NEWMAC Tournament game between the teams in Cambridge came in the 2023 final where Babson defeated MIT, 10-7. 

LAST MEETING
•    Annica Lam scored four of her game-high seven goals in the fourth quarter and Ashley Thomas contributed four goals and three assists for seven points as MIT defeated Babson, 19-8, on April 11 in Cambridge. 
•    Jillian Butler finished with three goals and two assists, Mairin Anderson led all players with seven draw controls and Pauline Vien stopped eight shots for the Engineers, who closed the second quarter with five straight goals to build a 9-3 halftime edge and also tallied eight times in the fourth. 
•    Senior Lilly Bedard produced three goals and one assist for four points, first-years Jenna Wong and Margaux Boneu both scored twice, and sophomores Courtney Laden and Mackenzie Cassler combined for nine draw controls for the Beavers, who got five saves in just over 40 minutes from junior goalkeeper Morgan McGahan. 

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
•    Fourth-seeded Babson (11-6) advanced to the NEWMAC semifinals for the 10th consecutive tournament with a 14-7  win over fifth-seeded Smith in Saturday's quarterfinal round. 
•    Laden scored a career-high six goals, Bedard (2g, 3a) and junior Jen Austin (2g, 1a) combined for eight points, Cassler had a season-high four caused turnovers and first-year Riley Burke picked up five ground balls for the Beavers, who led 9-4 at halftime and forced the Bears into 29 turnovers in the victory. 
•    Bedard (35-36-71) ranks fourth in the league in assists and seventh in points, Wong (37-5-42) has scored multiple goals in five of the last seven games and Laden (34-1-35) has 18 goals over the last four contests and leads the team with 60 draw controls, 25 ground balls and 22 caused turnovers. 
•    Rooney (24-1-25) has multiple goals in four of the last five games, sophomore Charleigh Newman (27 GB, 15 CT) and Cassler (21 GB, 15 CT) have both started all 17 games on defense, and 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 ENGINEERS
•    No. 24 IWLCA/No. 15 USA Lacrosse MIT (14-3), which has reached the NEWMAC semifinals in all but one season since 2008, has won seven consecutive games and closed the regular season with a 20-2 rout of Smith last Wednesday.
•    Thomas put up 10 points on six goals and four assists, Nina Petulla added four goals and two assists, and Lam scored three times for the Engineers, who led 14-1 at halftime. 
•    Thomas (59-59-118) ranks third in Division III in points and fifth in assists, Lam (61-12-73) is second in the league in goals and Alexis Reinard (19-23-42) has at least one point in 15 straight contests. 
•    Gwen Flusche (30-11-41) leads the squad with 58 draw controls and 32 ground balls to go along with 13 caused turnovers, while Loralei Quinn leads the defense with 18 caused turnovers, and Vien has a 10.21 goals against average and a NEWMAC-best .487 save percentage in 15 starts this spring. 

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 4-1 in its last five conference tournament games on the road going back to 2017. 
•    The Beavers have been victorious in their last 17 NEWMAC semifinal contests going back to 2007 with their last loss coming against Springfield back in 2006. 
•    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 71 points are a career high and are tied for 18th in single-season program history. 
•    Wong's 37 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 36 assists this spring are tied for fourth on the school's single-season list and her 51 career helpers rank 15th in Babson history. 
•    Laden's 58 draw controls are tied for 18th on the Beavers' single-season chart. 

BABSON TRENDS
•    Wong and Bedard are the only two Babson players with a point in all 17 games this season, and Wong has at least one goal in 11 straight contests.
•    Bedard and Rooney have both scored in nine consecutive games, Laden has multiple goals in her last five outings, and sophomore Lauren Caley has at least one point in each of the last five contests. 
•    Graduate student Livy Kehoe provided five ground balls, four draw controls and one caused turnover in Saturday's victory over Smith, and in five games since returning from injury she has 10 ground balls, 10 draw controls and four caused turnovers to go along with a goal and an assst.
•    First-year goalkeeper Francesca Tamburini has started Babson's last four games, going 4-0 with a 6.29 goals against average and a .476 save percentage. She made a season-high eight saves in the regular season finale at Wheaton last Wednesday and owns a 7.61 GAA and a .444 save percentage in 315 minutes of action this spring. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    The Beavers are 9-0 when leading at halftime and 10-0 when taking a lead into the fourth quarter this season.
•    Babson has attempted more shots, won more draw controls and picked up more ground balls than its opponents in all of its 11 wins on the year.
•    The Green and White is 9-0 this season and 24-0 over the last two years when scoring at least 12 goals.
•    The Beavers own a .824 clearing percentage on the season but were just 10-of-16 (.625) in the regular season matchup against MIT. 

UP NEXT
•    The winner of Wednesday's semifinal will face either second-seeded Coast Guard or third-seeded Springfield in the NEWMAC Tournament final at the highest remaining seed on Saturday.