ARV Men's Soccer at Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Friday, August 30 | 5 p.m.
Saint Joseph's Athletic Complex | Standish, Maine

ARV Men's Soccer vs. No. 12 Montclair State
Sunday, September 1 | 1 p.m.
Hartwell-Rogers Field | Babson Park, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY
vs. Saint Joseph's
• The Beavers lead the Monks 2-0-1 in the all-time series that dates back to 2014.
• Babson fell to St. Joe's on penalty kicks (4-2) after a 0-0 draw in the 2016 NCAA Tournament first round and edged the Monks 1-0 in last year's season opener in Babson Park.

vs. Montclair State
• The Beavers are 0-1-1 against the Red Hawks in the all-time series that dates back to 2004.
• The two teams tied their first meeting (2-2) in 2004 in Montclair, N.J., and the Red Hawks pulled out a 2-1 verdict at home last season.

LAST MEETING
vs. Saint Joseph's
• Senior Liam Rhatigan scored the only goal of the game in the 39th minute as Babson posted a 1-0 victory over Saint Joe's on September 1, 2023 at Hartwell-Rogers Field.
• Grad student Lorenzo Mancini and sophomore Will Lloyd picked up assists in the win and senior keeper Walker White made four saves to record his eighth career shutout, while senior Liam Foley made one save in goal for the Monks.

vs. Montclair State
• Enir Radoncic '24 scored with 1:16 remaining to break a 1-1 tie and lift Montclair State to a 2-1 victory over Babson on September 8, 2023 at the MSU Soccer Park.
• Junior Liam Goldstein scored the lone Babson goal in the 81st minute with an assist from Robin Pestka, while White made five saves in goal. Senior Amer Lukovic also scored for the Red Hawks and keeper Shane Keenan made two saves to record the victory.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (0-0) returns six starters and 26 veterans from a 2023 team that went 11-4-7 overall, 5-0-3 in conference play, and made its fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance after advancing to its fifth consecutive NEWMAC Tournament final.. 
• White (0.70 GAA, 12 SO) leads the group of returnees after earning First Team All-Region and New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Defensive Athlete of the Year honors. Graduate student Samuel Kalishman was a 2023 Second Team All-NEWMAC selection and returns after starting 48 of his 62 games over the past three seasons.
• Junior Joao Araujo (0-1-1), Rhatigan (4-0-8), graduate student Lorenzo Mancini (0-1-1), senior Matias Gutierrez (0-1-1), sophomore Alexander Yablonovskiy (4-1-9) and Lloyd (2-2-6) saw significant playing time for the Beavers last fall.

SCOUTING THE MONKS
• Saint Joseph's (0-0) is coming off a season that ended with a 12-4-3 overall record, an 11-2-1 mark in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) and an appearance in the GNAC Tournament semifinals, where it was upset by fifth-seeded Norwich, 1-0.
• Foley was named GNAC Goalkeeper of the Year and was joined by senior Rion Dos Santos on the All-Conference first team. Senior F Gus Ford and sophomore D Diego Robinson were second team honorees and Robinson and sophomore Cole Bishop were All-Rookie Team picks.
• Dos Santos (6-8-20) led the team in scoring and senior Nate Sottak (5-1-11) and Ford (3-2-8) were second and third, respectively.

SCOUTING THE RED HAWKS
• No. 12 Montclair State (0-0), which opens its season Friday at Wheaton, enjoyed an outstanding campaign in 2023, finishing 19-2-2 overall, 9-0 in conference matches and capturing the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) championship. The Red Hawks won NCAA Tournament games over Elmira (2-0) and Christopher Newport (3-1) before falling to Connecticut College on penalty kicks (4-3) in the sectional semifinals.
• Lukovic, a three-time All-American and the 2023 Division III National Player of the Year, leads the ground of returnees for Montclair. He was the NJAC Offensive Player of the Year after leading the NCAA in points (75), goals (34), and game-winning goals (11). Senior back Ian Chesney (2-6-10), who earned his first All-America nod, keyed a defense that allowed just 17 goals in 23 games with 10 clean sheets.
• Senior Owen Murphy (6-6-18), who was second on the team in scoring, and MF Osbin Mendez (1-8-10), who led the team in assists, both earned All-Region honors.

PATROLLING THE SIDELINE
• Babson is led by 39th-year head coach Jon Anderson, the second longest-tenured coach in college soccer who ranks third among active Division III coaches and 14th all-time with 454 wins.
• Coach Anderson boasts a .670 winning percentage and has led Babson to 15 conference championships and 20 NCAA Tournament appearances.

OPENING ACT
• The Beavers are unbeaten (6-0-1) in season-opening matches dating back to 2016. 
• Babson has opened the season with a win in four consecutive seasons and five of its six victories during this stretch have come by a single goal.

RANKED OPPONENTS
• Sunday's clash with No. 12 Montclair State will be Babson's first of four contests against opponents in the United Soccer Coaches Division III pre-season poll, including three from the top 10.
• The Green and White will also take on No. 2 Amherst in Babson Park on September 24, No. 10 Tufts in Medford on October 1, and No. 5 Middlebury in Vermont on October 13.

POLL POSITION
• All three teams this weekend were picked to win their respective conferences in the pre-season polls, Babson in the NEWMAC, Saint Joseph's in the GNAC and Montclair State in the NJAC.
• The Beavers collected four of a possible nine first-place votes to finish atop the NEWMAC poll, St. Joe's received eight of the possible 15 top votes in the GNAC, and Montclair State got five of the 10 first-place votes in the NJAC.

GRADUATE ASSISTANCE
• The Babson roster includes seven graduate students this fall, including returning Beaver veterans Kalishman, Mancini and Rhatigan and four graduate transfers.
• Marco Cerezo (Connecticut College) was an All-Region and All-NESCAC second team selection on defense for the Camels, James Donaldson (Trinity) was a three-year veteran midfielder for the Bantams,  Kento Abe (Maryland) started 16 of his 29 career games for the Terrapins, including 11 starts as a senior, and Tyler Fidrych (UConn) was a three-year reserve defender/midfielder for the Huskies.

BEAVER BITES
• The Beavers' seven draws in 2023 were a single-season program record.
• Babson has won at least 11 games in 18 of the last 19 seasons dating back to 2004, the lone exception was a 9-9-0 record in 2017.
• The Green and White have made four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and have reached the national tournament 12 times in the last 15 seasons since 2008.
• Babson is 16-2-4 at home over the last two seasons (only losses are to Amherst in 2022 and Connecticut College in 2023).

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers are 35-1-3 when scoring the opening goal of the match over the last three seasons. 
• Babson is 24-1-1 when scoring at least two goals dating back to the start of the 2021 campaign.
• The Green and White is also 17-1-1 in the last three seasons when leading at halftime.
• Babson's 4-3 loss to Johns Hopkins in the NCAA Tournament last November snapped a string of 135 straight wins when scoring at least three goals, dating back to a 4-3 loss to Gordon on September 15, 1999.

UP NEXT
• The Beavers will travel to Middletown, Connecticut on September 7 to take on Wesleyan at 3 p.m.