BABSON PARK, Mass.— First-year
Kate Schneider (Walpole, Mass.) scored two goals and senior
Grace Mullaney (Boxford, Mass.) added a goal and an assist as No. 6 Babson College defeated Mount Holyoke College, 6-1, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) field hockey action on Friday evening at MacDowell Field.
The Beavers extended their winning streak to four games and improved to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in the conference. Mount Holyoke dropped its second straight conference game and dipped to 6-2 overall and 0-2 in the NEWMAC play.
Senior
Ashley Braren (Westwood, Mass.), junior
Lauren Golden (New Albany, Ohio) and sophomore
Molly DiGiulio (East Amherst, N.Y.) each scored for the Green and White, and junior
Penny Baroni (Dennis, Mass.) contributed an assist in the victory.
Sophomore Rory Bernardo (Oaklyn, N.J.) scored for the Lyons, which tied the game at 1-1 late in the second quarter and ended up being the only shot for the visitors. First-year Addie Oakes (Guilford, Conn.) had a busy night in the Mount Holyoke goal and was impressive, finishing with a season-high 16 saves.
DiGiulio wasted little time in putting the Beavers on the scoreboard, scoring the opening goal just 75 seconds into the contest. She collected a rebound off a save by Oakes and hit a reverse shot from the left side while falling down to beat Oakes on the near side for her first goal of the season.
Mount Holyoke played the Beavers tough, allowing just four shots in the opening period and then Bernardo evened the score in the 26th minute. An entry ball sent into the circle by first-year Sophia Islam was left alone by Babson goalie
Madison Tibbals (Gorham, Maine), but rather than go into the cage harmlessly, the ball bounced off the far post and back into play. Bernardo beat everyone else to the ball, with enough time to turn and shoot past Tibbals and inside the right post for her second goal of the season.
The Beavers regained the lead just two minutes later as Baroni sent a cross from the right end line through the crease, and Braren tapped the ball into the goal at the far post for her second goal of the season to put the hosts up 2-1 at the intermission.
Babson took full control of the game with three goals in the third quarter. Schneider tipped a shot by Mullaney from inside the top of the arc up and over Oakes' shoulder in the 36th minute, Golden knocked in a rebound near the left post after a penalty corner in the 39th minute, and Dellaney pounced on a loose ball in the slot and buried it into the left side of the goal in the 43rd minute, extending the lead to 5-1.
Schneider finished off the scoring on a penalty corner in the 52nd minute. After Baroni received the corner from Mullaney on the left side, Baroni passed back to Mullaney coming into the play from the insertion spot, and she sent a pass across the crease where Schneider redirected the ball into the goal for her second of the game and third of the season.
The Beavers finished with a 26-1 advantage in shots, including 22-1 in shots on target, and took all 14 penalty corners in the game.
Babson is back in action on Tuesday with a tough match-up at No. 2 Tufts at 6 p.m. Mount Holyoke plays a non-conference game Tuesday at Nichols at 7 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• Babson has won 11 in a row over Mount Holyoke and is now 28-15-3 all-time against the Lyons in a series that dates back to 1988
• Mount Holyoke's goal broke a streak of 211 minutes and 34 seconds since the Babson defense had last surrendered a goal.
• Schneider became the fourth Babson player this season to score at least two goals in a game.
• Babson has won 79 consecutive NEWMAC regular season games over the last 11 years. The last regular season loss was a 1-0 verdict at Mount Holyoke on October 17, 2015.
