Anderson Becomes 14th Active Coach In NCAA Division III To Reach 350 Wins

BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior Justin Laurenzo (Park Ridge, N.J.) scored a pair of goals and Babson College blew the match open with three second-half tallies en route to a 5-1 win over visiting Clark University in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's soccer action on Saturday afternoon at Hartwell-Rogers Field.

With its second straight victory, Babson is now 9-4-0 overall and 2-2-0 in conference play, while Clark slips to 5-8-1 overall and 1-2-1 in the NEWMAC.

Senior Peter Van Noppen (Providence, R.I.), sophomore Caleb Long (Kingston, Mass.), and first-year Logan Ventura (Pittstown, N.J.) all scored for the Beavers, who rallied for five unanswered goals after falling behind 1-0. Graduate student Dillon Ventura (Pittstown, N.J.), juniors Tyler Carlos (Prospect, Conn.) and Andrew Gonzalez (Durham, Conn.), sophomore Shane Mandel (Syosset, N.Y.) and first-year Justin Kaplan (Medway, Mass.) each contributed an assist in the win.

The Cougars jumped on the board early as sophomore TJ Zirkman (Freehold, N.J.)  converted a feed from classmate Vinny Morra (Setauket, N.Y.) just 1:47 into the contest for a 1-0 lead. Babson responded though, as Van Noppen struck for his first goal of the year in the 17th minute to pull even at 1-1. After beating a defender on the left flank, he hit a shot over Clark first-year goalkeeper Connor Maguire (Dunstable, Mass.).

After controlling the run of play for much of the first half, the Green and White went in front just 2:45 from halftime. Carlos carried the ball into the box before leaving it for Laurenzo, who drilled a shot over Maguire and under the bar for a 2-1 edge.

Van Noppen played a thru ball to Ventura, who then slid a pass across the box to Long for his third goal of the year to make it 3-1 in the 48th minute, and Laurenzo notched his conference-leading 10th goal of the year in the 56th minute to give the Beavers a 4-1 lead. Ventura then capped the scoring with his first collegiate goal in the 73rd minute, converting a cross from Mandel to make it 5-1.

Babson junior goalkeeper Stephen Donato (Morganville, N.J.) stopped two shots to earn his fourth win of the season. Maguire made eight saves in 79:41 of action for Clark before giving way to sophomore Alistar Richardson (Tolland, Conn.), who stopped one shot over the final 10:19.

The Beavers held a 19-5 edge in shots, while the Cougars attempted four of the game's five corner kicks.

Legendary head coach Jon Anderson, now in his 29th season at the helm, became just the 14th coach in Division III history to reach 350 wins with Saturday's victory. Anderson, who has been selected as the conference coach of the year nine times and regional coach of the year on three occasions, has led the Green and White to 10 conference championships and 13 NCAA Tournament berths during his illustrious career.

Babson returns to action next Saturday when it travels to Springfield College for a 1 p.m. start, while Clark hosts Emmanuel College on Thursday at 6 p.m.

GAME NOTES: The Beavers are 34-16-6 all-time against the Cougars and are unbeaten in the series' last eight meetings (6-0-2) going back to 2007…Laurenzo, who entered the week tied for the NCAA Division III lead in game-winning goals, recorded his sixth of the season on Saturday…Babson has won 10 straight games when holding its opponent to one goal or less…the Beavers are 5-1-0 this fall when leading at halftime…Babson is 5-0-0 this season when scoring three goals or more.