BEVERLY, Mass.— Senior
Helen DiGiovanni (Harwich, Mass.) scored a pair of second-quarter goals and No. 3 Babson College went on to defeat No. 10 Endicott College, 2-0, in a battle of top-10 field hockey teams in the season opener for both programs Tuesday evening at North Field.
The Beavers won their sixth straight season opener to start the campaign at 1-0, while the Gulls, which dropped last year's season opener to Babson, 4-3, are again off to a 0-1 start this year.
Junior
Taylor Shoflick (Greenwood Village, Colo.) picked up an assist on one of the goals, and sophomore
Madison Tibbals (Gorham, Maine) made two saves in goal to record her 10th career shutout.
Junior Faith Minickene (Madison, Conn.) had a solid evening in goal for the Gulls, finishing with six saves.
After a scoreless first quarter that saw Babson outshoot the hosts 5-3, the Beavers got on the scoreboard less than three minutes into the second frame. DiGiovanni dribbled the ball on right side from just over the midfield stripe all the way down the right side of the goal line where she punched a shot through the goalie's pads for a 1-0 lead.
DiGiovanni doubled the score with less than two minutes remaining in the second stanza. Shoflick fired a ball toward the goal from just outside the circle on the left side, and DiGiovanni deflected it in front past the goalie inside the near post.
That turned out to be all the offense the Beavers would need. Both teams were strong defensively in the second half, with each managing just two shots in the third quarter and neither team putting a shot on goal in the fourth.
Babson had a 4-2 margin in penalty corners, with three of the attempts coming in the second half.
The Green and White return home to host No. 4 Christopher Newport in the home opener on Saturday at 12 p.m. at MacDowell Field. Endicott hosts New Paltz on Saturday at 11 a.m.
GAME NOTES
• Babson is 15-4 all-time against Endicott in a series that dates back to 1984.
• The Beavers have won 17 of their last 18 season openers since 2008, with the only setback coming to Endicott in 2019.
• DiGiovanni, who now has 10 career goals, produced her first career multi-goal game and matched her goal total from all of last year.
• Tibbals posted the fifth shutout in her last seven outings dating back to last season.
