BABSON PARK, Mass.— Graduate student
Jared Rainville (Watertown, Conn.), junior
Alex Fascilla (Huntington, N.Y.), first-year
Seamus Rooney (Bay Shore, N.Y.) and head coach
Rocky Batty and his coaching staff received major awards highlighting Babson College's nine all-conference selections when the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) released its postseason award winners on Wednesday afternoon.
Rainville was tabbed as the NEWMAC Athlete of the Year, Fascilla claimed Defensive Player of the Year accolades, Rooney earned Co-Rookie of the Year recognition, and Batty and his assistants repeated as the league's coaching staff of the year.
Rainville and Fascilla were joined on the All-NEWMAC First Team by graduate students
James Turco (Woodbury, N.Y.) and
Chip Quinn (Catonsville, Md.), seniors
Brendan Maher (Melrose, Mass.) and
Topher Bower (Chicago, Ill.) and junior
Gavin Bailey (Hinsdale, Ill.), while Rooney was joined by senior
Ford Carney (Garden City, N.Y.) on the Second Team. Maher is the only repeat selection for the Beavers, becoming a three-time All-NEWMAC honoree and a two-time first team choice.
Batty and assistants
Devin Newell,
Daniel Crotty and
Alex Bunick '15 were selected as the NEWMAC Coaching Staff of the Year after leading the Beavers to their second consecutive conference title and third in the last four years. The Green and White went unbeaten in league play and their three losses all came to nationally ranked teams by a combined total of eight goals.
Rainville earned Athlete of the Year accolades after leading the NEWMAC in scoring, accumlating 74 goals and adding 24 assists for 98 points, including 29 goals and nine assists in seven conference games. He fired in at least four goals in five of the seven league outings and went on to finish with seven goals and an assist the NEWMAC semifinals and six goals and two assists in the championship game on the way to earning the tournament Most Outstanding Player award. Rainville ranks fourth in Division III in goals per game (4.11) and 16th in points per game (5.44).
A graduate transfer from Connecticut College, Rainville (74-24-98) set the Babson single-season goals record and has climbed to second place on the all-time points list, trailing only Josh Shaffer (71-31-102 in 1995).
Fascilla has enjoyed a breakout season as Babson's starting goalie, going 11-3 and leading the NEWMAC with an 8.76 goals against average and a .624 save percentage and ranking second with 196 saves. He currently ranks seventh on Babson's single-season saves list and his 11 victories are tied for third most in any season with Adam Daroff, who also won 11 back in 2014.
A three-year veteran and first-year starter, Faschilla ranks eighth in Division III in save percentage, 19th in goals against average and 28th in saves per game (14.00).
Rooney was enjoying an outstanding rookie season before suffering a season-ending injury against Tufts back on April 16. He started 13 of his 14 games and finished his campaign with 31 goals and 11 assists for 42 points in 14 games, including four man-up goals, one man-down marker and one game-winner. His 42 points this season is the highest total by a Babson rookie since 2010. He scored at least three goals in each of his first six games and had multiple goals in 10 of his 14 outings.
Turco made an impact as one of the top face-off men in the region after transferring to Babson this season from Division I Lafayette College. He won 163-of-258 face-offs for a .632 winning percentage, which leads the NEWMAC and ranks 34th in Division III. He also led the team and ranked third in the NEWMAC with 101 ground balls, just the fifth individual in program history to scoop up more than 100 ground balls in a season, and was named NEWMAC Face-Off Specialist of the Week three times this spring.
Maher earned his third straight All-Conference honor after starting all 18 games and leading the team with 22 caused turnovers and collecting 40 ground balls. He upped his career totals to 53 forced turnovers, which ranks seventh on the program's all-time list. Fellow long pole
Chip Quinn also started all 18 games and contributed 19 caused turnovers and 49 caused turnovers. Maher and Quinn led a Beaver defense that leads the NEWMAC and ranks 23rd in Division III, allowing just 8.67 goals per game, and they helped the Green and White defense hold six of their seven conference foes to nine goals or fewer during the regular season.
Bower is second on the team in scoring with 56 points, including 16 goals and a team-high 40 assists, which rank second in the NEWMAC and 37th in Division III in assists per game (2.22). He tallied at least four helpers in four of the seven league games and totaled five goals and 19 assists in seven games against NEWMAC opponents in the regular season. A veteran a 55 career games, Bower (57-71-128) ranks fifth among Babson's all-time assists leaders and 14th on the career points list.
Bailey, a transfer from Holy Cross and a long-stick defensive middie, and
Carney, a four-year veteran and short-stick defensive middie, were strong contributors to the Beavers' league-leading defense. Bailey played in 14 games with two starts and tallied nine caused turnovers and 16 ground balls to go along with a goal and an assist while Carney notched six forced turnovers and 20 ground balls in 17 games while registering career-highs of eight goals and six assists.
No. 10 USILA/No. 11 USA Lacrosse Babson (15-3) will take on RV/No. 19 Denison (14-5) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at 3 p.m. in Rochester, N.Y.
