Probably the biggest head-turner result in D1AA over the weekend was Babson eking out a 48-47 win over Northeastern in the Liberty Conference semifinals.
Northeastern had come into the game 6-0 in conference play, outscoring opponents, on average, by almost 50 points. They could score, of course, but they could also defend, with only Boston College having scored more than 20 points against the Huskies and only UMass being the other team to top 10 points.
So how did the Beavers chew through the Northeastern defense to score 48 points?
This is Babson's first season in D1AA and they knew they had a lot to learn about the division. They did that, and then some.
It took, said Head Coach Carrick Pell, "a lot of perseverance resilience, and finding that edge that we’ve been missing the last few weeks."
Sometimes you have to fight for it. But you also have to be tactically smart, Babson was both, at times, even if not always.
"We reduced our penalty count to a reasonable number," said Pell. "Even still, we found ways to let a very dynamic, explosive Northeastern team off the hook several times. Similarly, we were fortunate enough to take advantage of some lucky bounces throughout the match. Hats off to Northeastern, because every time we scored, they countered immediately and kept themselves out in front for the majority of the game."
