BABSON PARK, Mass.— Senior Caroline Hughlett (Charlottesville, Va.) scored two goals and added an assist and first-year Calli Martin (Lititz, Va.) produced a goal and an assist as No. 4 Christopher Newport University cruised past No. 3 Babson College, 6-1, in a battle of top-5 Division III field hockey teams Saturday afternoon at MacDowell Field.
The Beavers, which had their 23-game home winning streak snapped, fall to 1-1 on the season. CNU is off to a 2-0 start this season and has won 21 of its last 22 games dating back to the start of last year.
First-year
Kate Schneider (Walpole, Mass.) provided the highlight for the Beavers with her first career goal and senior
Grace Mullaney (Boxford, Mass.) picked up an assist. Sophomore
Madison Tibbals (Gorham, Maine) made five saves in goal to fend off the Captains, who outshot the hosts 22-7.
Senior Courtney Hughlett (Charlottesville, Va.), classmate Ellie Nuckols (Chesterfield, Va.) and first-year Isabel Tamayo (Fairfax, Va.) also scored for the Captains, and senior Lindsay Loar (Fredericksburg, Va.) and first-year Ellen Gallagher (Fredericksburg, Va.) registered assists. Senior Ella Fallen (Glen Allen, Va.) made four saves in 55 minutes in goal to record the victory.
The visitors took control of the game in the first quarter, outshooting the hosts 7-0 and taking all six penalty corners in the stanza. CNU finally capitalized early in the second quarter when Nuckols inserted a penalty corner from the left side and after a shot was blocked, Nuckols fired the rebound inside the near post to put the Captains on the scoreboard.
After a 12-3 shot advantage in the first half but just a one-goal lead, the Captains started to pull away with a pair of scores in the third quarter. Martin fired a shot from inside the top of the circle that deflected off Caroline Hughlett to make it 2-0 in the 33rd minute, and Hughlett made it two in a row, burying a pass from Loar in the 42nd minute.
The Captains put the game out of reach with a pair of goals early in the fourth quarter. Martin finished off a cross from Gallagher with a shot inside the left post in the 49th minute, and Tamayo scored her first collegiate goal from the left side inside the far post.
Babson finally got on the board with less than two minutes remaining when Schneider stuffed a shot past the goalie near the right post on a feed from Mullaney. Courtney Hughlett rounded out the scoring with a penalty stroke goal with no time remaining.
The Beavers will be home again on Tuesday, hosting Saint Joseph's of Maine at 6 p.m. CNU plays at No. 10 Endicott on Monday at 11 a.m.
GAME NOTES
• Saturday's game was the first career meeting between the two programs.
• The Green and White are 8-3 against nationally ranked teams since the beginning of last season, and 5-3 against top-10 teams.
• The loss was Babson's first at MacDowell Field since a 2-1 decision against Middlebury on September 15, 2024, and the six goals by CNU were the most surrendered by the Beavers since a 6-3 setback to Trinity back on September 28, 2014.
