Men's Soccer 9/30/2022 12:00:00 AM

Game Preview: No. 18 Men's Soccer vs. Clark

No. 18 Men's Soccer vs. Clark
Saturday, October 1 | 12:00 p.m.
Hartwell-Rogers Field | Babson Park, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY
• The Beavers own a 38-18-6 advantage over Clark in the all-time series that dates all the way back to 1959.
• Babson is 10-1-3 against the Cougars since 2007, with seven of those contests going to overtime.
• The last Clark win in the series was a 2-1 overtime decision in 2017 at Hartwell-Rogers Field.

LAST MEETING
• Goalkeeper Itai Rubin '22 made a career-high eight saves as No. 21 Babson battled to a 0-0 double-overtime draw with visiting Clark on October 2, 2021 at Hartwell-Rogers Field.
• Clark keeper Melvin Vincent '22G finished the day with seven saves for the Cougars.
• Both keepers had a busy day as Babson had a 24-20 advantage in total shots.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 18 United Soccer Coaches/RV D3soccer.com Babson (5-2-2, 2-0-0 NEWMAC) is coming off a 0-0 draw against No. 19 D3soccer.com Tufts Tuesday in Medford, Mass.
• Sophomore Walker White made a pair of second-half saves to record the first shutout of his career for the Beavers. The Green and White outshot the hosts 17-10, which included a 9-2 margin in shots on goal.
• Graduate student Ben Williams (4-1-9) leads the team in scoring, producing all of his points in his first five games, and sophomore Louis Gazo (2-3-7) and junior Shamar Rainford (3-1-7) are tied for second on the team in scoring. Graduate student Ryan Goss (1-4-6) and junior Liam Rhatigan (0-4-4) share the team lead in assists.
• White (1.18 GAA, .737 sv. pct., 28 svs.) has started all nine games in goal for the Beavers.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS
• Clark (2-8, 0-2 NEWMAC) is looking to stop a two-game skid after dropping a 2-0 verdict to Brandeis on Tuesday in Worcester.
• Junior Andrew DiStefano made eight saves in goal for the Cougars, who managed 14 shots and five on goal but could not put one in the net.
• Sophomore William Lopez (3-3-9) started the season with a five-game point streak and junior Anyolo Makatiani (4-0-8) leads the team in goals, including a pair in a loss to MIT. Senior Ezekiel Palmer (2-1-5) and sophomore Tyler Manley (2-1-5) are also offensive threats.
• DiStefano (3.80 GAA, .667 sv. pct., 38 svs.) has started six games for the Cougars and first-year Diego Marin (2.60 GAA, .698 sv. pct., 30 svs.) has gotten the nod in four matches.

HOMECOMING HISTORY
• Saturday's Back to Babson 2022 opponent Clark also played the Beavers in their first homecoming game back on October 27, 1962.
• The Green and White will look for a better result on Saturday as its 1962 squad suffered a 3-0 loss to the Cougars.

BABSON VS. THE NEWMAC
• The Beavers have won their last five games against NEWMAC opponents dating back to last season and are 21-2-6 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.

NEWMAC CELEBRATES 25-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
• Babson will be wearing special 25-year patches as part of the NEWMAC's silver anniversary celebration.
• The NEWMAC was established in 1998 when the New England Women's 8 Conference league members Babson, Clark, MIT, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Wellesley, Wheaton and WPI voted to begin sponsoring conference play and championships for men.
• The league expanded to include Coast Guard and Springfield in 1998 and added Emerson as its 11th member in 2013. Salve Regina will join the conference in all sports next summer.

SCORING SURGE
• After producing 24 goals all of last season and finishing seventh in the NEWMAC in scoring, the Beavers have scored 21 goals through nine games and lead the conference in scoring.
• Senior Jack Dugan (3-4-10) and Giancarlo Arguello '22 (4-1-9) topped the team in scoring in 2021; Williams has matched Arguello's goal total in seven games this fall and Rainford and senior Samuel Smith (3-0-6) are one goal shy.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson is 5-0 this season and 16-0-1 dating back to last year when scoring the first goal of the game.
• The Beavers are 4-0 this season and have won their 10 games going back to last year when leading at the half.

UP NEXT
• The Beavers continue their three-game homestand with a pair of encounters next week on Hartwell-Roger Field, beginning Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. with a non-conference battle vs. Suffolk.

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