BABSON PARK, Mass.— Junior
Penny Baroni (Dennis, Mass.) scored two goals and added an assist to lead No. 6 Babson College to a 4-0 victory over Saint Joseph's of Maine in a non-conference field hockey game Tuesday evening at MacDowell Field.
With the victory, the Beavers improved to 2-1 on the season while St. Joe's dropped to 1-2.
Seniors
Helen DiGiovanni (Harwich, Mass.) and
Grace Mullaney (Boxford, Mass.) also scored for the Beavers, and senior
Emma Smith (Kenilworth, Ill.) and junior
Taylor Shoflick (Greenwood Village, Colo.) collected assists.
Senior Kimberly McLaughlin (Lewiston, Maine) had a busy night in goal, finishing with nine saves for the Monks.
Baroni scored both of her goals in the first 17 minutes of the contest. The first one came on a penalty corner in the sixth minute, as Smith slid a reverse pass from the top of the circle to Baroni on the left side, and she ripped a shot through traffic and past McLaughlin for her first goal of the season.
The second goal by Baroni came in the second minute of the second quarter when she gathered a loose ball inside the top of the circle, made a move to her left and fired a reverse shot up over McLaughlin just under the crossbar to make it a 2-0 game.
The Beavers doubled their lead with a pair of goals 80 seconds apart in the third quarter. Shoflick set up the play with a spin move around a defender along the right end line before sliding a pass into the crease, where DiGiovanni buried a shot past the keeper for her third goal of the season.
The final marker came on a penalty corner, when Baroni dished a pass from the upper left side to Mullaney down low, and Mullaney punched a shot inside the left post for her first of the season.
Babson controlled play the majority of the game, finishing with a 20-1 advantage in shots and a 16-2 margin in penalty corners. The Monks' best opportunity came on a penalty corner in the third quarter but a shot by sophomore Ava Markham (Belfast, Maine) from the top left side went just wide left.
Sophomore
Madison Tibbals (Gorham, Maine) and first-year
Carly Spinner (Lafayette Hill, Pa.), who made her collegiate debut, combined on the shutout for the Green and White although neither was forced to make a save.
Babson returns to action on Thursday with a visit to No. 7 Williams for a 6:30 p.m. encounter. St. Joe's travels to Husson on Saturday for a 6:00 p.m. contest.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers have won all eight career meetings between the two programs in a series that dates back to 2019, producing seven shutouts.
• Mullaney has at least one point in five of her last six games dating back to last season.
• Babson is 45-4 in weekday games and 29-9 in the month of September since 2022.
• The Green and White have won 24 of their last 25 home games dating back to a 2-1 loss to No. 1 Middlebury on September 15, 2024.
