Story Courtesy of Babson Athletics

BABSON PARK, Mass.— First-year Caroline Ranucci (Farmington, Conn.) scored two goals and added an assist as No. 25 Union College defeated No. 14 Babson College, 4-0, in the first round of the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Tournament Wednesday afternoon at MacDowell Field.

With the loss, the Beavers had their winning streak snapped at seven games and finish the season at 15-7 overall. Union, making its first appearance in the NCAA Tourney in program history, improves to 14-6 on the season and advances to a second round game on Saturday at No. 2 Middlebury.

The Beavers outshot the visitors 17-5 over the first three quarters but could not put one in the back of the net. Junior Penny Baroni (Dennis, Mass.) had seven total shots with three on goal and senior Helen DiGiovanni (Harwich, Mass.) managed four shots to no avail.

Junior Tess Parker (Wethersfield, Conn.) was outstanding in the Union goal, finishing with five saves, and first-year Nadia Michienzi (Walpole, Mass.) prevented a goal with a defensive save in the second quarter. Senior Molly Halliday (Monroe, Conn.) and first-year Freja Morris (West Hartford, Conn.) also scored for the Garnet Chargers and sophomore Lily Durivage (Slingerlands, N.Y.) registered an assist.

Babson had five penalty corners and six shots in the opening 10 minutes of the game, but it was the Garnet Chargers who scored first on a penalty corner late in the frame. Junior Rowan Dapson (Montrose, N.Y.) took the initial shot from the right side, which was blocked, and Ranucci pounded home the rebound to give the visitors the lead after one quarter.

The Beavers continued dominating play, keeping the ball in the Union half of the field most of the second quarter and outshooting the Garnet Chargers 6-1 in the frame, but it was Ranucci who struck again on another corner. Durivage took a shot from inside the left side of the arc and Ranucci redirected the ball up and over the Babson defense and goalie into the top of the goal for a 2-0 Union lead. Babson had just one more shot in the final eight minutes, taking a 2-0 deficit into the intermission despite a 14-5 advantage in shots.

The Green and White continued pressing in the third quarter, taking the only two corners and only three shots in the frame but could not get anything going on the scoreboard. An energized Garnet Charger squad took over in the fourth quarter, posting a 5-1 margin in shots and taking five unanswered corners.

Union sealed the win with a pair of goals in less than three minutes in the fourth quarter. Ranucci deflected a shot on a corner to Halliday near the left post, who buried her first goal of the season in the 54th minute, and Morris finished off the scoring in the 57th minute with her second of the season on a scuffle in front of the net.

Babson finished with an 18-10 margin in shot attempts, including 6-5 in shots on target, and the Beavers had a 13-7 advantage in corners.

GAME NOTES
• Babson has a 7-2 advantage over Union in the all-time series that dates back to 2012, but Wednesday's outcome broke a seven-game winning streak for the Beavers in the series.
• The Beavers dropped an NCAA Tournament first round home game for the first time since falling to Husson, 1-0 in 2017, and lost just the second game in its last 24 outings at MacDowell Field since the beginning of last season.
• The Green and White lost an NCAA Tournament game at home for just the fourth time in 16 career NCAA outings dating back to 2005.
• The Green and White had outscored their opponents 41-2 in a seven-game winning streak entering the game.