Babson Field Hockey Team Returns to NCAA Division III Final Four
The Babson College field hockey team is returning to the Final Four of the NCAA Division III tournament for the second time in three years and the third time in program history.
The No. 3-ranked Beavers defeated No. 7 Wesleyan, 1-0, Sunday at MacDowell Field, as Laney Reed ’26 scored the only goal of the game and Babson withstood a fourth-quarter surge to extend its winning streak to 18 games.
Babson (22-1) plays No. 2 Johns Hopkins at 3:30 p.m. Friday at Robin L. Sheppard Field in Hartford, Connecticut. The other semifinal pits No. 1 Christopher Newport against No. 6 Tufts. The semifinal winners will meet in the national championship game at 1 p.m. Sunday.
In the victory over Wesleyan, goalie Madison Tibbals ’29 made two saves in goal for her ninth shutout of the season, and Grace Mullaney ’27 assisted on the only goal of the day in the 18th minute after scoring the game-winner to beat No. 16 Bowdoin, 2-1, in the second round.
Last week, the field hockey team collected some impressive accolades from the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC). Forward Caroline DiGiovanni ’26 was voted as the Athlete of the Year and was joined on the All-NEWMAC First Team by defender Sanne van der Goes ’26, midfielder Penny Baroni ’28, and defender Anna Bonazzoli ’29. Midfielder Taylor Shoflick ’28 earned a Second Team honor.
Also, head coach Julie Ryan and her three assistants—Meghan Evans, Lindsey O’Coin, and Tori Roche ’20—were honored as the Coaching Staff of the Year for the ninth time in the past 10 seasons and 11th time overall. They led a Babson team that graduated eight starters from last year to an unbeaten conference regular season (9-0) for the ninth year in a row and their fifth consecutive NEWMAC championship and seventh overall.
In other NCAA postseason action this past weekend:
- Nick Yacoub ’28 earned all-region honors as the men’s cross country team finished sixth at the NCAA East Region Championship on Saturday. Yacoub finished in 22nd place out of 216 runners in a time of 25:17 over the 8-kilometer course. The women’s team finished 17th.
- The men’s soccer team (11-7-4) lost a heartbreaker, 2-1, to Connecticut College on a late penalty kick Sunday in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
- The women’s volleyball team earned an at-large bid to the 64-team field of the NCAA tournament, despite losing the NEWMAC tournament final to MIT in five sets Sunday. The Beavers (22-7) will play No. 21 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (25-16) in the regional quarterfinals at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at Wesleyan College in Middletown, Connecticut.
Follow the field hockey and women’s volleyball teams at babsonathletics.com.
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