BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior Kirsten Kilburn (North Branford, Conn.) scored three times and junior Julia Bell (Longmeadow, Mass.) chipped in with a pair of goals as 19th-ranked Mount Holyoke College defeated Babson College, 5-2, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) field hockey action on Saturday afternoon at MacDowell Field.
With its fourth straight victory, Mount Holyoke is now 11-2 overall and 4-1 in conference play, while Babson drops to 8-8 overall and 3-3 in the NEWMAC.
Kilburn made history for the Lyons in today's contest as her six points on the day made her the all-time career points leader at Mount Holyoke. She now has 161 points in her career (56 goals and a program-best 49 assists) surpassing Shara Robertson '12 (67g-25a-159pts) as the all-time points leader. Sophomore Charlotte Wagner (West Chester, Pa.) contributed three assists in the win for the Lyons, while junior Sarah LaQuerre (Old Orchard Beach, Maine) assisted on a pair of goals.
First-year Julie Mortimer (Spencer, Mass.) scored twice for the Beavers. Sophomore Nicole Smith (Barrington, R.I.) had a career-high two assists on the day.
Kilburn opened the scoring just 9:24 into the contest, taking a penalty corner insert from Wagner and blasting a shot from the top of the arc past Babson junior goalkeeper Kayla Costa (Watertown, Mass.) for a 1-0 lead. Bell extended the lead for Mount Holyoke, redirecting LaQuerre's shot following a corner, to make it 2-0 at the 25:33 mark.
Costa kept the Green and White within striking distance early in the second half, stopping five shots and getting a piece of another that deflected off the post in the first 12 minutes. After nine early penalty corners, the Lyons broke through with two tallies in the span of 2:28 to break the game open. Kilburn blasted home another shot from the top of the arc at 46:59 for a 3-0 lead, and Bell followed with her second goal, redirecting a LaQuerre shot, for to make it a four-goal game at the 49:27 mark.
The Beavers rallied though, as Mortimer tipped in a shot by Smith near the right post to cut the deficit it 4-1 at 55:10, and then redirected another Smith blast 4:21 later to make to get within 4-2 with 10:39 remaining in regulation. Unfortunately it's as close as they would get as following a timeout, Kilburn notched her third goal of the day, again converting a corner insert from Wagner as Mount Holyoke regained its three-goal edge.
Costa finished with seven saves for the Green and White, while Lyons' sophomore Liz DiCesare (Westford, Mass.) turned away three shots in the win.
Mount Holyoke held an 18-12 advantage in shots and a 16-11 edge in penalty corners.
Both teams return to action on Tuesday as Babson hosts Wheaton at 6 p.m., while the Lyons visit WPI at 4:30 p.m.
Game story courtesy of Jeremy Viens, Babson Sports Information.