Game One 

Junior Jessica Evans led all players with three goals and graduate student Anna Costello set a new single-season program record with five caused turnovers to help 16th-ranked and top-seeded Babson College defeat the fourth-seeded Coast Guard Academy, 7-3, in a NEWMAC Tournament semifinal on Wednesday night at Babson's Alumni Field.
 
Babson (16-2) has won four straight games and has been victorious in 16 straight conference semifinal contests going back to 2007. Coast Guard sees its season come to a close at 13-5.
 
Junior Amelia Novitch finished with a goal and an assist and classmate Clare Connolly scored once and led all players with six draw controls for the Beavers. Senior Zoë Michaud registered five caused turnovers, classmate Eileen Manning scooped up a game-high six ground balls to go along with four caused turnovers, and junior goalkeeper Kathleen Murphy made three saves and also contributed three forced turnovers and two ground balls in the victory. 
 
Senior Addy Bass had two goals, classmates Mia Becker and Caitlin Kelly both recorded three caused turnovers and junior Maici Mintchwarner made nine saves in the loss for the Bears. 
 
Bass opened the scoring less than 90 seconds into the contest before Evans scored twice around a tally by senior Genevieve Bushey to give the Green and White a 3-1 advantage 20 seconds into the second quarter. Becker won the ensuing draw and pulled the Bears back within one just eight seconds later before Novitch buried a feed from senior Nicole Darveau to push the margin back to 4-2 with 4:18 to go before halftime.
 
Bass trimmed Coast Guard’s deficit to one with 1:13 to go in the second period but it would get no closer as the Beavers’ defense dominated the final 30 minute of the game. Graduate student Lily Ives gave the hosts a two-goal lead with 10:35 left in a third quarter that saw the Bears commit nine turnovers while attempting just two shots.
 
Connolly put away a free-position chance with 2:20 remaining in the third and Babson forced the visitors into miscues on six of their next seven possessions before Evans completed her hat trick with 6:52 to go in the game. The Bears got off just one shot, which was saved by Murphy in the final stanza, while finishing the night with 30 turnovers.
 
The Beavers held a 24-10 edge in shots and a 11-3 margin in draw controls, while scooping up 31 ground balls and converting 24-of-28 clearing opportunities.
 
Babson will host third-seeded and 20th-ranked MIT in Saturday’s NEWMAC Tournament final at 1 p.m.

Game Two 
 
No. 2 Springfield College was upended by No. 20 MIT, 15-10, in the NEWMAC Championship Semifinals on Wednesday evening at Springfield's Stagg Field.

MIT, which was ranked 20^th in this week's ILWomen/IWLCA Division III Poll, improved to 16-3 and will travel to take on Babson on Saturday with the conference title on the line.  Springfield, which was also receiving votes in the national poll, fell to 15-4 on the year.

Izzy Lalancette totaled a team-best four goals, while Lily Johnson added a pair of markers. Hannah Hibbert notched four draw controls and Haley Moody tallied nine saves in goal.

MIT's Ellie Rabenold pumped in four goals and Meredith Arterburn and Ashley Thomas each produced three goals and an assist.  Pauline Vien played the final 30 minutes in cage and was impressive, totaling seven stops while allowing just three goals.  The Engineers owned a 35-28 edge in shots for the game and a 21-13 advantage in ground balls. 

Springfield got off to a tremendous start, netting the first four goals of the game as Lily Vey's unassisted strike with 1:46 left in the quarter put the hosts in control at 4-0.  Rabenold would deliver with just nine seconds left to make it a 4-1 game after 15 minutes of play.  She would later produce her second of the game when she finished with a defender draped all over her with 4:35 remaining in the half to pull the visitors within 5-4.  Lalancette would respond with a pair of power play goals just over two minutes apart to push the lead back to 7-4, only to have Gwen Flusche beat the buzzer for a strike following a failed Springfield clear as MIT trimmed it to a 7-5 halftime cushion. 

Johnson would dodge to her right and bury a shot on the run just over a minute into the third quarter to help Springfield regain a three-goal lead at 8-5.  However, MIT would manufacture a 9-0 run capped off by a free-position goal by Rabenold with 6:43 remaining in regulation to have their lead grow to 14-8.  Lalancette and Samantha Andresen would score in the final 5:27 for the Pride but the visitors were able to hang on for the semifinal victory. 

About the NEWMAC

The NEWMAC is an association of 12 selective academic institutions: Babson College, Clark University, U.S Coast Guard Academy, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Salve Regina University, Smith College, Springfield College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, that are committed to providing high quality competitive athletic opportunities for student-athletes within an educational and respectful environment that embodies the NCAA Division III Philosophy. The conference also partners with four Associate Members: Norwich University (Football), Simmons College (Rowing), SUNY Maritime (Football) and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Football), while sponsoring 20 sports.