KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State College field hockey team will take on seventh-ranked Babson College in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Division III Field Hockey tournament this coming Wednesday (November 13) after the bracket was announced on the selection show late Sunday night on ncaa.com.
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TICKETS: $10 per person, no online pre-sale
The Owls (16-6, 5-1 LEC) received the automatic bid from the Little East Conference following Saturday evening's 3-2 road victory over top-seeded Vermont State University Castleton and will be making their 15th appearance in the NCAA tournament. They last made it six straight times from 2013 through 2018, and have reached the second round five times, most recently in 2018 when they came from 3-1 down to beat the State University of New York at New Paltz 4-3 in a home game before falling to eventual national champion Middlebury College. That marked the second of a current six consecutive national titles for the Panthers, who were one of four teams to receive a first round bye along with Tufts University, Salisbury University, and Williams College.
KSC is back on the national stage partly thanks to an impressive and balanced offense, paced by junior
Grace Bazin (25-7-57), who is third in Division III in goals. Sophomore
Meghan Daileanes has added 13 goals and seven assists (33 points), while senior
Irini Stefanakos had 11 goals and 18 helpers (40 points), becoming the program's new all-time assists leader earlier this season.
Molly Murray (10-1-21) has also engineered a double-digit goal season for the first time in her career.
The Owls defensively are backed by senior and Little East tournament Most Outstanding Player
Hannah Wood and goalkeeper
Clara Gorman, who has made 51 saves in 16 games (13 starts) and is 9-3 with two shutouts.
Babson, ranked No. 7 in the most recent Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Top 25 poll, will be making their fifth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance and ninth overall. The Beavers won the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference tournament championship for the fourth consecutive time, blanking No. 17 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 3-0 on Saturday. Babson (18-3, 9-0 NEWMAC) has notched three consecutive shutouts and 13 straight wins entering the NCAA tournament. Their only defeats on the season have come against then-No. 8 Williams 1-0 in overtime on the road on September 8, 2-1 to then-No. 1 Middlebury on September 15, and 3-1 to then-No. 7 and tournament top seed Tufts 3-1 on the road September 24.
The Beavers boast a remarkably balanced offensive lineup, with nine different people recording five or more goals on the season. Caroline DiGiovanni (18-4-40), Jessica Evans (14-4-32), and Kate Guden (10-4-24) have all scored in double-digits and have combined for nine game-winning goals.
It will mark the fourth meeting all-time between the two sides. KSC beat the Beavers 2-1 in an ECAC quarterfinal in 2002, but Babson won two 6-1 decisions since in 2019 and 2021. In the 2019 meeting in Keene, the then-No. 16 Beavers moved out to a 3-0 halftime lead behind a hat trick from Lauren Curley and scored six times on their 12 shots on goal, outshooting KSC 16-8. In a return game in Babson Park two years later, the home team – ranked No. 6 nationally – scored three times in the opening 8:56 of the second half to pull away from what was a 2-1 game at halftime.
KSC head coach
Amy Watson enters the tournament just one win shy of 500 for her career. She would become just the sixth active field hockey coach across all three NCAA divisions to reach the milestone. Julie Ryan (Quinnipiac '02) took over the Beavers beginning in the 2007 campaign and has a career record of 267-97 (.734), winning more than 20 games in a season three times.
The winner of Wednesday's first round game at MacDowell Field, which will begin at 3:00 p.m., will take on either No. 14 Bates College or the Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday, November 16 at 2:00 p.m.
Stay tuned to keeneowls.com and our social media channels (@KeeneStateOwls) for more game information. Tickets will be $10 per person upon entry; there will be no online sales prior to the game.
