SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (Nov. 4, 2011) – For the 13^th year in a row, the Mount Holyoke College field hockey team has qualified for the NEWMAC Tournament. The Lyons will begin their quest for conference supremacy with a semifinal round contest against Babson College tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. The contest will take place at MIT's Jack Barry Field.

Mount Holyoke is in the midst of one of its greatest seasons in program history. With their win over Springfield on Tuesday, the Lyons secured their first NEWMAC Regular Season Championship since the 2001 season. They went 6-2 in league play and finished in a tie with MIT atop the final standings. Both squads earned first round byes.

MIT entered the tournament as the top seed by virtue of its 3-2 victory over Mount Holyoke on October 15. The Engineers will host both semifinals on Saturday and the championship on Sunday.

In Wednesday's quarterfinal round matches, sixth-seeded Babson upset third-seeded Wellesley College 1-0, and fourth-seeded Springfield held on for a 2-1 win over fifth-seeded WPI.

The Lyons cruised to a 5-0 triumph over the Beavers at home on October 8. They will enter the tournament as the second seed, riding a four-match winning streak. On the other side of the bracket, MIT will face off against Springfield at 11:00 a.m.

The NEWMAC Championship is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Tournament History

Top seeds MIT and Mount Holyoke have claimed two NEWMAC Tournament Championships apiece. Both squads went 6-2 in league play to earn a share of the regular season title and first round byes. They will have their work cut out to reach Springfield, which has racked up seven championships over the league's first 24 seasons. The Pride earned five consecutive titles from 2004 to 2008 before MIT captured its second in 2009. Mount Holyoke took home crowns in 2001 and 2003. Meanwhile, Wellesley has finished on top six times, and WPI and Smith College have prevailed four and two times, respectively. Babson secured its first conference title last fall.

Mount Holyoke 5, Babson 0 (October 8, 2011)

Additional Information:
Complete Recap | Boxscore

Senior forwards Jess Fajardo and Shara Robertson exploded for two goals apiece, as Mount Holyoke rolled to a 5-0 triumph over Babson in front of its home crowd on October 8.

The Lyons grabbed a 1-0 edge 11:08 into the contest, when Fajardo navigated through heavy traffic in front to score her first goal of the day.

With the outcome of the match still in question, Mount Holyoke erupted for two goals over a span of 2:33 in the early stages of the second half to push their lead to 3-0. After Robertson scored off a rebound at the 40:23 mark, she set up first year forward Stephanie Slysz less than three minutes later. Both shots came from the middle of the circle.

The Lyons put things out of reach with two more tallies down the stretch. The first came from Fajardo in the 62^nd minute. After a wild flurry that included three shots and two saves, the ball eventually made its way to Slysz, who found Fajardo with a short pass from the right side. Robertson then used a feed from first year midfielder Kirsten Kilburn to close out the scoring in the final seconds.

Led by senior Tricia Chase, the Mount Holyoke's suffocating defense limited the Beavers to just five shots and five corners. Senior goalkeeper Katie Gibson needed to stop just one shot to preserve the shutout. She received some help from Kilburn, who came up with a pair of defensive saves.

Senior goalkeeper Jess Pashos made 15 saves for the Beavers before giving way to sophomore Kayla Florence with eight minutes left. 

Breaking Down the Lyons

Mount Holyoke (12-4, 6-2 NEWMAC) closed out its regular season with four straight victories. The Lyons have used a balanced attack to outscore their opponents 70-45 thus far this season. Their 70 goals and 185 points are the most in program history.

Forward Shara Robertson has set the tone with a school-record 53 points on 19 goals and 15 assists. With her dramatic tally against Springfield earlier this week, she became the program's all-time leader in career points (144) and goals (61). Midfielder Kirsten Kilburn has made an immediate impact in her rookie campaign at Mount Holyoke, racking up 13 goals and nine assists. Forward Jess Fajardo has also scored 13 times, while midfielder Aurora Rougeau has dished out nine assists. The Lyons have also received a boost from forward Stephanie Slysz, who has chipped in with eight goals and four assists.

On the defensive end, goalkeeper Katie Gibson has posted a goals against average of 1.18 and a save percentage of .819. She has collected five shutouts this year and 17 in her career. Tricia Chase has provided support with a league-best six defensive saves, and Kilburn has added five.

Breaking Down the Beavers

Babson (9-11, 4-4 NEWMAC) advanced to the semifinals with a stunning 1-0 victory over Wellesley on Wednesday. Forward Morgan Lockwood scored the lone goal off a feed from Caroline Malone in the 62^nd minute. It was her team-leading 20^th tally of the fall. Goalkeeper Jess Pashos made nine saves en route to her third of the year for the Beavers, who claimed their first NEWMAC Tournament Championship last year.

Lockwood has been Babson's top offensive weapon, dishing out nine assists to go with her 20 goals. Malone has recorded 23 points on 10 goals and three assists. Meanwhile, forward Courtney Weaving has recorded 40 points on four goals and eight assists. Fellow frontliner Hannah Feneberg has scored six times to round things out for the Beavers.

Pashos owns a goals against average of 2.68 and a save percentage of .786.