BABSON PARK, Mass.—Junior Elise Towers (Cicero, N.Y.) and sophomore Ashley Tango (Reading, Mass.) each finished with a goal and an assist as eighth-ranked Babson College scored three times in the second half to defeat visiting Mount Holyoke, 3-0, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) field hockey action on Saturday afternoon at MacDowell Field.
With the victory, Babson is now 13-2 overall and 6-0 in conference play, while Mount Holyoke, which entered the day having won four straight games, slips to 7-5 overall and 3-2 in the NEWMAC.
Senior Nicole Smith (Barrington, R.I.) also scored and classmate Kelsi McDougle (Hopedale, Mass.) chipped in with an assist for the Beavers, who snapped a four-game losing streak against the Lyons.
Following a frustrating first half that saw Mount Holyoke senior goalkeeper Liz DiCesare (Westford, Mass.) make 10 saves, the Green and White broke through just over six minutes after the break when Tango blasted home a shot off a penalty corner to take a 1-0 lead. Smith gave Babson some breathing room in the 57th minute when she carried the ball into the circle and hit a hard shot inside the right post for her third goal of the season and a 2-0 advantage.
The Beavers capped the scoring just over five minutes later when Towers redirected a shot by Tango in front of the cage for her league-leading 16th goal of the season.
Babson outshot the Lyons 18-2 over the opening 35 minutes, but had a goal taken off the board at the 12:22 mark and saw DiCesare make eight of her 10 first-half stops over the final 13 minutes of the stanza. She denied Tango with a kick save in the 26th minute and then made three consecutive stops following a penalty corner a minute later to keep the game deadlocked.
DiCesare turned away 14 shots on the afternoon, while Beavers' first-year Deirdre Barry (Longmeadow, Mass.) did not have to make a save to collect her 13th win of the season.
Babson finished with a 27-3 edge in shots and a 10-2 advantage in corners.
Both teams return to action on Tuesday as the Beavers host Wheaton at 6 p.m., while Mount Holyoke travels to WPI at 4:30 p.m.
Game release courtesy of Babson Athletic Communications.
