Men's Soccer 10/28/2022 12:00:00 AM

Game Preview: No. 14/16 Men's Soccer vs. Springfield

No. 14/16 Men's Soccer vs. Springfield
Saturday, October 29 | 1:00 p.m.
Hartwell-Rogers Field | Babson Park, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY
• The Beavers own a 23-7-4 advantage over Springfield in the all-time series that dates back to 1994.
• Babson is 18-2-3 against the Pride since 2004 with consecutive shutout victories in the past three meetings.
• The biggest Pride victory over the Green and White in the last 20 years was a 1-0 verdict in the 2018 NEWMAC championship game in Babson Park.

LAST MEETING
• On the heels of a 1-0 Babson victory in the regular season finale five days earlier, Giancarlo Arguello '22 scored 37 seconds into the match as the second-seeded Beavers defeated third-seeded Springfield, 1-0, in a NEWMAC Tournament semifinal on November 4, 2021, at Hartwell-Rogers Field.
• Senior Rodrigo Madiedo picked up an assist and goalkeeper Itai Rubin '22 made six saves to record his ninth shutout of the year.
• Senior keeper Clayton Knibbs made seven saves and back Jack Costa '22 cleared a pair of scoring chances off the line for the Pride.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 14 United Soccer Coaches/No. 16 D3soccer.com Babson (12-3-2, 6-0-0 NEWMAC) has won four straight games with three straight shutouts after a 5-0 whitewash of Bridgewater State on Tuesday. The Beavers are 8-1-1 in their last 10 with the only loss coming to defending national champion Connecticut College.
• Graduate student Ben Williams scored twice in the first nine minutes in the win over BSU and seniors Liam Hanlon and Noah Labelle and junior Shamar Rainford each scored once for the Beavers. Graduate student Ryan Goss, senior Samuel Smith and junior Louis Gazo all chipped in with an assist, and classmate Mack Lemkau made one save over the final 45 minutes after replacing sophomore Walker White at halftime.
• Williams (9-3-21) is second in the NEWMAC in goals and points and Gazo (5-6-16) is third in assists and points. Senior Mitchell Collins (3-7-13) and Goss (1-7-9) share the conference lead in assists and Rainford (5-1-11) is tied with Gazo for third in goals.
• White (0.91 GAA, .770 sv. pct., 47 svs.) has started all 17 games in goal for the Beavers and leads the league with 12 wins and ranks second with four clean sheets.

SCOUTING THE PRIDE
• Springfield (3-10-2, 2-4 NEWMAC) is 1-5 in its last six games, including Tuesday's 2-0 setback to Skidmore in the final home game of the season.
• Senior Clayton Knibbs made three saves in the setback for the Pride, who outshot the Thoroughbreds 17-15.
• Graduate student Jack Rosenberg (3-2-8) and first-year Parker Thornton (3-0-6) are the scoring leaders for the Pride, who have been outscored 27-11 this season. Senior Chayne Bruneau (0-1-1) anchors the defense for Springfield.
• Knibbs (1.80 GAA, .755 sv. pct.) has played every minute in goal for the Pride, leads the NEWMAC with 83 saves and has posted three shutouts, just one off the league lead.

PLAYOFF RACE
• Babson has clinched the NEWMAC regular season title for the third time in the last four seasons and fourth time in the last six years. The Green and White will host a tournament semifinal game Thursday as well as the championship game next Saturday with a semifinal victory.
• With a victory on Saturday, the Beavers can wrap up their third perfect NEWMAC regular season record and eighth conference campaign without a loss, all since 2008.
• Springfield heads into Saturday tied for sixth with Wheaton and out of the five-team playoff race but can still earn a berth with a win over Babson and a loss by either WPI or Coast Guard.

BABSON VS. THE NEWMAC
• The Beavers have won their last nine games against NEWMAC opponents dating back to last season and are 23-2-6 since the beginning of the 2018 season.
• The only blemishes in that span were a 1-0 setback to Springfield in the 2018 NEWMAC championship game and a 1-0 loss to MIT on October 23, 2021.

BEAVER BITES
• The Beavers have reached double figures in victories for the fourth straight season and the 17th time in the last 18 campaigns.
• Collins has 49 career points and is one shy of becoming the 26th player in program history to produce 50 points. His 19 career assists are also tied for 15th all-time in program history.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers are 12-0 this season and 23-0-1 dating back to last year when scoring the first goal of the game.
• With six shutout victories this month, the Green and White are 11-0-2 this season when holding their opponent to one goal or less and are 47-4-11 since 2018 when keeping opponents under two goals.
• The Beavers are 8-0 this season and have won their 14 games going back to last year when leading at the half.

UP NEXT
• Babson will host a NEWMAC Tournament semifinal game on Thursday (Opponent and Time TBA).

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