No. 11 Men's Soccer  | NCAA Tournament Babson Park Regional 
Saturday-Sunday, November 16-17
Hartwell-Rogers Field | Babson Park, Mass. 

WHAT TO KNOW
•    The 11th-ranked Babson men's soccer team was selected as one of 16 hosts for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament when the bracket was unveiled on Monday. 
•    The Beavers will welcome St. John Fisher, Saint Joseph (Conn.) and Wesleyan to Hartwell-Rogers Field with play beginning on Saturday morning. 

SCHEDULE
First Round | Saturday, November16
No. 11 Babson (14-1-6) vs. St. John Fisher (11-4-5), 10:30 a.m.
Wesleyan (7-4-5) vs. Saint Joseph (14-4-3), 1 p.m. 

Second Round | Sunday, November 17
Advancing teams, 1 p.m. 

SERIES HISTORY
vs. St. John Fisher: first meeting
vs. Wesleyan: 7-6-4
vs. Saint Joseph: have not met

SCOUTING BABSON
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 32nd (30th in Division III)
Best NCAA Finish: 1975, 1979 and 1980 Division III national champions 
•    Babson (14-1-6) enters the NCAA Tournament riding a seven-game winning streak after defeating Salve Regina, 2-0, in last Saturday's NEWMAC Tournament final. 
•    Graduate student Kento Abe scored the opening goal in the 30th minute and then helped set up sophomore Alexander Yablonovskiy's marker in the 32nd minute for the Beavers, who got four saves from senior goalkeeper Walker White on the way to claiming their fourth conference title in the last five seasons. 
•    Abe (8-6-22) has produced at least one point in seven of the last nine games, graduate student James Donaldson (7-5-19) has scored in four of the last five matches and Yablonovskiy (5-3-13) has provided five points over his last three outings. 
•    Walker has started all 21 matches this fall and ranks eighth in Division III with a 0.49 goals against average and nine shutouts to go along with a .836 save percentage. 

SCOUTING ST. JOHN FISHER
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2nd
Best NCAA Finish: 2016 first round
•    The Cardinals (11-4-5) are unbeaten in nine consecutive matches after defeating Elmira, 2-0, in the Empire 8 Conference final last Saturday. 
•    Riley Rease opened the scoring in the 14th minute and Joey Avallone doubled the lead 10 minutes later for St. John Fisher, which got four saves from Christian Burkhart while recording its sixth consecutive shutout. 
•    Avallone (7-5-19) has produced five goals and 13 points over the last seven games, Rease (6-4-16) leads the team with four game-winning markers and has scored five times in the last seven contests, and Jack Tamburino (5-3-13) provided an assist in the conference title game win over Elmira. 
•    Burkardt has started all 20 matches ranks in the top-15 nationally with a 0.54 goals against average and a .869 save percentage to go along with a Division III-best 13 shutouts. 

SCOUTING WESLEYAN
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 6th
Best NCAA Finish: 2009 sectional semifinals
•    The Cardinals (7-4-5) were unbeaten in five straight games to end the regular season before suffering a 2-1 2OT loss to Williams in the NESCAC quarterfinals back on November 2. 
•    Yousuf Saeed tied the game just 2:41 into the contest and Mathis Blanc made five saves for Wesleyan, which outshot the Ephs 7-0 in the first overtime period before conceding to the game-winning goal on a free kick in the 103rd minute. 
•    Chris Porte (3-2-8) has at least one point in four of the last five games, Saeed (3-1-7) and Joshwin Jennings (3-1-7) are tied for second on the team in scoring and have combined for six goals, and Zack Burd (2-2-6) is tied for the team lead in assists. 
•    Blanc has started all 16 matches and boasts a 0.87 goals against average and a .791 save percentage to go along with seven clean sheets on the year. 

SCOUTING SAINT JOSEPH
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2nd
Best NCAA Finish: 2022 first round
•    The Bluejays (14-4-3), who have lost just once since September 7, enter the NCAA Tournament riding a seven-game winning streak after defeating Johnson & Wales, 2-1, in last Saturday's GNAC final. 
•    Dane Stephens opened the scoring in the 59th minute and Henry McGarrrah V tacked on an insurance marker in the 81st minute for Saint Joseph, which got five saves from Will Slayton.
•    McGarrah V (13-7-33) has a goal in five of the last six matches and leads the team with four game-winning tallies, Stephens (10-4-24) has produced at least one point in four of his last five outings and Damir Cirikovic (8-5-21) has four goals in seven games going back to October 19. 
•    Slayton is 11-1-3 on the year in 17 starts and owns a 1.03 goals against average and a .793 save percentage to go along with four shutouts. 

BEAVERS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
•    Babson is making its 32nd NCAA Tournament appearance and 13th in the last 16 years. 
•    The 1975, 1979 and 1980 Division III national champions also advanced to the national semifinals in both 1977 and 1991 and reached the sectional semifinals in 2010 and 2011.
•    The Green and White last reached the second round in 2021 when it defeated Cabrini 2-1 on Hartwell-Rogers Field. 
•    Each of Babson's last two first round matches have gone to extra time as it fell on penalties to Vassar following a 1-1 2OT draw in Brunswick, Maine, in 2022, and lost to Johns Hopkins 4-3 in 2OT last November in Middlebury, Vt. 

HISTORY ON HARTWELL-ROGERS
•    Babson is 20-7-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament matches on Hartwell-Rogers Field, which includes some of the most historic wins in program history.
•    The Beavers defeated Glassboro State (now Rowan) in a 4OT marathon in the semifinals before outlasting Scranton 1-0 in OT a day later to win the 1980 national championship at home.
•    Babson also produced quarterfinal victories at home in 1975, 1977, 1979 and 1980, and advanced to its last NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in 2011 by knocking off Trinity in penalty kicks on the field named for legendary former head coaches Bob Hartwell and Bill Rogers '73.

STRIKING EARLY
•    Babson has scored a first half goal in each of its last seven games and 10 of its last 11 matches going back to October 5. 
•    The Beavers have scored in the first 10 minutes in eight matches this fall and have outscored their foes 20-3 in the first half on the year. 

MOVING UP THE ALL-TIME WINS LIST
•    Babson head coach Jon Anderson '75, who ranks third among active Division III coaches, enters the NCAA Tournament with 468 career victories, which is tied for 12th on the all-time Division III wins list. 
•    Now in his 39th season leading the Beavers, Anderson trails only Jay Martin of Ohio Wesleyan (773 wins) and Paul McGinlay of Trinity (Texas), who has 569 victories, on the active list.
•    The winner of this weekend's regional would face Trinity (Texas) should they advance from their pod in the sectionals next weekend. 

GOALS AT A PREMIUM
•    While the two sides do not share any common opponents this season, Babson and St. John Fisher both enter Saturday's match boasting top-10 scoring defenses in Division III.
•    The Beavers are ranked fifth in team goals against average (0.48), while the Cardinals are 10th at 0.54. 
•    Both teams are tied for second in Division III with 13 shutouts on the year.

STREAKING BEAVERS
•    The Green and White has won its last seven games while outscoring its opponents 19-1. 
•    Babson has kept four consecutive clean sheets and has not conceded a goal at home in 636:46 going back to the second half of a 1-1 draw with Amherst on September 24. 
•    The Beavers are 10-0-2 at home this fall and are unbeaten in 17 consecutive matches at Hartwell-Rogers Field going back to last season. 

WHEN 90 MINUTES ISN'T ENOUGH
•    After abolishing regular overtime in the regular season three years ago, teams will play two 10-minute periods of sudden death overtime if the game is tied at the end of regulation. 
•    Should the contest remain tied after 110 minutes, it will be decided on penalty kicks. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    The Beavers are 10-0-1 this season when leading at halftime and have trailed after 45 minutes in just four of 43 games going back to the start of the 2023 campaign. 
•    Babson is 14-0-3 this season when scoring the first goal of the match. 
•    The Green and White is 14-0-6 when holding its opponents to one goal or fewer. 
•    The Beavers are 11-0 this season when scoring two or more goals. 
•    The Beavers are 6-1-2 in the month of November over the last three seasons and 8-0-2 in Saturday games this fall.