No. 8 Men's Soccer vs. MIT
Saturday, October 12 | 1 p.m.
Hartwell-Rogers Field | Babson Park, Mass.

WHAT TO KNOW
• No. 8 Babson will welcome MIT for a key New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contest on Saturday at Hartwell-Rogers Field.
• The Beavers and Engineers are tied for first place in the NEWMAC along with WPI, all with 13 points, with just one week remaining in the regular season.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 41-10-6 all-time against MIT in a series that dates back to 1976.
• Saturday's game is the first in Babson Park since 2021 when MIT took a 1-0 victory over the Beavers that led to the conference regular season crown.
• The Green and White are 0-3-1 in the last four games against the Engineers at Hartwell-Rogers Field dating back to 2015.
• In the last 13 matches between the sides going back to 2012, 11 have been decided by a single goal or ended in a draw.

LAST MEETING
• Ross Shellow '23 scored the only goal of the game in the 75th minute and No. 18/22 Babson held on for a 1-0 victory over MIT on October 22, 2022 at Roberts Field in Cambridge.
• Ben Williams '23M assisted on the game-winner and junior keeper Walker White made five saves for his second straight shutout.
• Paarth Desai '23 made four saves in goal for MIT in the loss.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (9-3-4, 4-0-1 NEWMAC) brings a seven-game unbeaten streak (4-0-3) into Saturday's game that started with a 2-1 win over No. 3 Amherst on September 27 and has continued through Wednesday's 0-0 draw at Springfield.
• White made one save in the deadlock and the Beavers finished with an 18-7 margin in shots, including one off the post and another off the crossbar.
• Graduate students Justin Stone (4-1-9) and Sam Morgan (3-3-9) have combined for four game-winning goals, senior Liam Rhatigan (4-0-8) has notched three of his markers in the second half and both grad student Ryan Grund and first-year Will Lloyd have provided two goals and two assists this fall. 
• White (0.57 GAA, .893 sv. pct., 9 SO) has started 37 straight games going back to last season with 15 clean sheets. He is ranked second in Division III this fall in shutouts, ninth in save percentage and 14th in goals against average.

SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS
• MIT (6-4-2, 4-0-1 NEWMAC) is 3-0-1 in its last four outings and 6-1-1 in its last eight, including a 2-2 draw at Emerson last Saturday in Boston.
• Graduate student Peter Novoa and senior Garrett Robinson scored goals for the Engineers, and junior Nathan Guntvedt registered an assist in the deadlock. Senior Lukas Hanson-Puffer made four saves in the tie.
• Robinson (6-4-16) is tied for second in the conference in goals and assists and tied for the lead in points. First-year Nico Mangiafico (4-2-10) is tied for seventh in the league in goals and senior Aidan Hallinan and Novoa have three goals and one assist apiece.
• Hanson-Puffer (1.81 GAA, .717 sv. pct., 1 SO) has two clean sheets in seven starts and first-year Ardila Hernando (0.33 GAA, .938 sv. pct.) is 3-0 with two shutouts in his three starts.

PLAYOFF RACE
• WPI (4-1-1) has 13 points to share the conference lead with Babson (4-0-1) and MIT (4-0-1) but has played one more game than the other two.
• Wheaton (2-1-2, 8 pts), Coast Guard (1-1-3, 6 pts) and Springfield (1-2-3, 6 pts) have the advantage over Clark (1-4-1, 4 pts) for the final three positions in the upcoming conference tournament. 

STREAKING BEAVERS
• Babson is 16-0-1 in its last 17 games against NEWMAC foes, including conference tournament matches.
• The Beavers boast a nine-game home winning streak against conference opponents that dates back the MIT game on October 23, 2021. 

SECOND-HALF SURGE
• The Beavers have scored 17 of their 20 goals after halftime this fall and are outscoring their opponents 17-6 over the final 45 minutes of their first 15 matches. 
• Nine of the 17 markers have come after the 70th minute and seven have been scored with less than 10 minutes to go in regulation. 

HONORING "WILD" WILL
• Will McHugh, who is better known as Wild Will of Westwood, joined the Babson men's soccer program in 2014 through Team IMPACT and will be honored prior to the start of Saturday's match. Will, who suffers from Lissencephaly, is a fixture on the sidelines during games with his parents Bill and Donna, and has been a part of the program's four NCAA Tournament appearances over the last seven years.

BEAVER BITES
• Seventy-five percent (12 of 16) of Babson's games this season have been decided by a single goal or finished in a draw.
• The Green and White is 2-0-3 this year and 13-2-6 in the month of October since 2021. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers are unbeaten in their last 35 matches (33-0-2) when scoring first. 
• Over the last three seasons, Babson is 17-0 when leading at halftime.
• The Beavers are 9-1-3 on the year when conceding one goal or fewer.

UP NEXT
• Babson wraps up the regular season on the road with NEWMAC matches at Clark on Wednesday in Worcester and at Coast Guard next Saturday in New London, Conn.