Men's Soccer 10/14/2022 12:00:00 AM

Game Preview: No. 15/19 Men's Soccer at WPI

No. 15/19 Men's Soccer at WPI
Saturday, October 15 | 3 p.m.
H. Carr Field at Alumni Stadium | Worcester, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 40-9-5 all-time against WPI in a series that dates back to 1974.
• The Beavers and Engineers each own a victory and have finished in a draw after 110 minutes three times (2018, 2019, 2021) over their last five matches.
• Each of the last four games between the sides has gone to double-overtime, which is a streak that will not be extended on Saturday with the elimination of extra time in the regular season.
• The Green and White is unbeaten over its last nine road matches in the series dating back to 2003.

LAST MEETING
• The teams traded goals less than 10 minutes apart early in the second half as the Beavers and WPI battled to a 1-1 2OT draw on October 16, 2021, in Babson Park.
• Senior Jack Dugan opened the scoring in the 51st minute but Engineers' junior Michael Magalhaes notched the equalizer in the 61st minute.
• The Beavers' Itai Rubin '22 and WPI's Roe Hendrick both finished with seven saves in a physical match that featured 33 fouls and six cautions.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 15/19 Babson (8-3-2, 4-0-0 NEWMAC) is coming off a 3-0 loss at No. 22 Connecticut College that snapped its five-game unbeaten streak on Wednesday night.
• Sophomore goalkeeper Walker White made a career-high seven saves for the Beavers, who fell behind 2-0 less than 30 minutes into the contest.
• Graduate student Ben Williams (7-2-16) is second in the NEWMAC in goals and points, junior Louis Gazo (3-4-10) has a point in four of his last six matches and classmate Shamar Rainford (4-1-9) has converted a pair of penalty kicks this fall.
• White has started all 12 matches for the Green and White and owns a 1.09 goals against average and a .717 save percentage to go along with three shutouts.

SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS
• WPI (5-3-4, 1-1-2 NEWMAC) snapped a two-game skid with a 4-0 win over Clark last Saturday.
• Junior Aaron Vaz had a goal and an assist, senior Luke Savoie scored once and sophomore Filippo Marcantoni tacked on a pair of tallies over the final 10 minutes for the Engineers, who erupted for four second-half goals.
• Senior Francesco Valagussa (5-1-11) and Vaz (4-3-11), who leads the team in assists are tied for third in the conference in points, while Savoie (4-1-9) has scored a pair of goals against NEWMAC foes.
• Hendrick has started all 11 matches and ranks third in goals against average (0.73) and save percentage (.852) to go along with three clean sheets.

POINTS RACE
• Babson is the only team in the NEWMAC that has taken a full 12 points from its first four games and enters the weekend atop the table, three points clear of second-place MIT.
• WPI enters the match tied for fourth place with Wheaton, one point ahead of sixth-place Coast Guard and two points behind third-place Emerson.

BEAVERS AT THE TOP
• Graduate student Ryan Goss and senior Mitchell Collins are tied for the NEWMAC lead with six assists apiece, while Gazo and junior Liam Rhatigan are tied for fourth in the league with four assists each.
• Babson also ranks first in conference play with 13 goals scored and goals against average (0.25) having conceded just once in its first four contests.

HANLON NABS NEWMAC WEEKLY HONORS
• Babson senior center back Liam Hanlon was selected as the league's defensive player of the week on Tuesday.
• He played 135 minutes over two matches as the Beavers limited Suffolk and Coast Guard to just four shots on target while extending their scoreless minutes streak to 373 going back to September 24.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers have scored two or more goals in each of their eight wins this fall.
• Babson is 7-0-2 on the year when conceding one goal or fewer.
• The Green and White has won its last 12 NEWMAC road games and is unbeaten over its last 14 conference road matches (12-0-2) going back to 2018.
• The Beavers are 19-0-1 over the last two seasons when scoring the first goal of the match.

UP NEXT
• Babson travels to Willimantic, Conn., to take on Eastern Connecticut State on Tuesday at 3 p.m.

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