No. 11 Men's Soccer  vs. Wesleyan
NCAA Tournament Babson Park Regional | Second Round
Sunday, November 17 | 1 p.m. 
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. 

SERIES HISTORY
•    Babson is 7-6-4 all-time against Wesleyan in a series that dates back to 1980. 
•    After not playing for nearly three decades, the Beavers and Cardinals will meet for the second time this season on Sunday afternoon.

LAST MEETING
•    Senior goalkeeper Walker White made seven saves to help Babson battle to a 0-0 draw with Wesleyan on September 7 in Middletown, Conn. 
•    Mathis Blanc finished with four saves for the Cardinals, who outshot the Beavers 17-5 in a match that featured 22 fouls and seven yellow cards. 

HOW THEY GOT HERE
•    The Beavers defeated St. John Fisher thanks to an 82nd-minute goal by Matias Gutierrez, 1-0, while Wesleyan scored twice in the second half to beat Saint Joseph (Conn.), 2-0, on Saturday. 

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 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 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 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. 

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. 
•    Babson's last three second round matches in the NCAA Tournament have been against NESCAC foes. The Beavers won 2-1 in OT at Williams in 2010, outlasted Trinity on penalties following a 1-1 2OT draw at home in 2011 and suffered a 3-0 loss to Amherst on Hartwell-Rogers Field in 2021. 

HISTORY ON HARTWELL-ROGERS
•    Babson is 21-7-4 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 10 of its last 12 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 Sunday's match with 469 career victories, which ranks 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 571 victories, on the active list.
•    Should the Beavers win on Sunday, Anderson and McGinlay would face each other in a sectional semifinal 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 eight games while outscoring its opponents 20-1. 
•    Babson has kept five consecutive clean sheets and has not conceded a goal at home in 726:46 going back to the second half of a 1-1 draw with Amherst on September 24. 
•    The Beavers are 11-0-2 at home this fall and are unbeaten in 18 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
•    Babson ranks fifth in Division III in team goals against average (0.48) and is tied for first in the country with 14 shutouts.
•   The Beavers are 10-0-1 this season when leading at halftime and have trailed after 45 minutes in just four of 44 games going back to the start of the 2023 campaign. 
•    Babson is 15-0-3 this season when scoring the first goal of the match. 
•    The Green and White is 15-0-6 when holding its opponents to one goal or fewer. 
•    The Beavers are 11-0 this season when scoring two or more goals. 
•    Babson is 7-1-2 in the month of November over the last three seasons. 

UP NEXT
•    The winner of Sunday's matchup will face Trinity (Texas) in next weekend's sectional semifinals.