No. 20/14 Men's Lacrosse vs. Roger Williams
Saturday, February 15 | 1:00 p.m.
MacDowell Field | Babson Park, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 14-1 all-time against Roger Williams in a series that dates back to 1990.
• The Beavers have won their last eight games against the Hawks since 2015. 
• Babson and Roger Williams will meet to open the season for the fourth year in a row and sixth time in the last seven seasons. 

LAST MEETING
• Jared Rainville M'24 and graduate student Topher Bower combined for 15 points and No. 19/20 Babson rattled off 10 unanswered goals to end the first quarter and begin the second on the way to defeating Roger Williams, 20-10, on February 17, 2024 at Bayside Field in Bristol, R.I.
• Rainville (5g, 2a) and Bower (2g, 6a) led the Beavers in scoring while sophomore Seamus Rooney (4g, 2a) had six points in his collegiate debut and senior Colt Bordonaro notched two goals and two assists. James Turco M'24 won 15-of-16 face-offs while Grey Sunderland '24 won 13-of-17.
• Kevin Murphy M'24 (3g, 1a) and Matt Hemmert '24 (2g, 1a) led the Hawks, and sophomore Riley Spellman notched two goals in his collegiate debut.

A LOOK BACK ON 2024
• Head coach Rocky Batty, who is now in his seventh season at Babson, led the Beavers to another outstanding campaign last spring that included to second consecutive NEWMAC regular season and tournament championships and making a second straight appearance in the third round of the NCAA Tournament last May.
• The Green and White recorded decisive victories over Wheaton and Springfield to claim the conference tournament title and topped No. 19 Denison 12-10 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 2/3 RIT in the third round to end the year at 16-4. 
• The 16 victories surpassed the single-season program record by three wins and included a program-best 10-game winning streak.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 20 USILA/No. 14 USA Lacrosse Magazine Babson (0-0) returns 41 players, including three All-Americans and six All-Conference selections, from a team that finished 16-4 overall and 7-0 in the NEWMAC, setting a program record for victories in a season. 
• Senior goalie Alex Fascilla (9.76 GAA, .593 sv pct.) returns after earning All-America recognition by USA Lacrosse (third team) and USILA (honorable mention). Senior defender Brendan Maher (24 CT, 45 GB) earned All-America honorable mention from USA Lacrosse and Bower (16g-43a-59p) was honorable mention midfield by USILA.
• Junior Bennett Smith (16-38-54), last year's conference Rookie of the Year Rooney (31-11-42), graduate student Jacob Tauss (33-8-41) and sophomore Luke Wang (25-13-38) are offensive threats that all produced at least 38 points last spring.
• Senior long-stick middie Gavin Bailey (24 CT, 17 GB) was an All-Region selection last spring and bolsters the defense along with Maher and short-stick middle and former All-Conference selection graduate student Sammy Kalishman (14 CT, 33 GB).

SCOUTING THE HAWKS
• Roger Williams (0-0) is coming off a season that saw the Hawks finish 13-6 overall and 6-4 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (now called the Conference of New England) before falling in the CCC Tournament semifinals.
• Graduate student Matt Hemmert (72-10-82) returns after setting the program record for goals in a season and earning All-Conference first team honors. Seniors Ryan Vendetti (18-17-35), Jack Kester (8-16-24) and AJ DaRin (10-13-23) will also be looked to for offense after combining for 82 points last spring.
• Junior defenseman Kyle Zirn (43 CT, 58 GB) is back after earning All-Conference first team honors a year ago. Senior long-stick middie Chris Giorgi (14 CT, 30 GB) will also help bolster the Hawks defense. Junior David Rizzo (117-288) is the top returning face-off man.
• Junior Aaron D'Aversa held down goaltending duties last spring and posted an 11.66 goals against average and a .512 save percentage in 17 starts between the pipes. 

NATIONAL POLLS
• Babson has earned national recognition in recent years and appears in most Division III preseason polls.
• The Beavers are ranked No. 18 by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA), No. 14 by USA Lacrosse magazine and No. 20 by insidelacrosse.com.

BEAVERS PICKED TO THREE-PEAT BY NEWMAC COACHES
• Two-time defending champion Babson was picked to finish first when the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) announced its preseason coaches' poll last week. 
• The Beavers received seven first-place votes to finish ahead of last year's runner-up Springfield, while MIT, Salve Regina and Coast Guard rounded out the top five. 

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA
• Six members of this year's Beaver squad garnered preseason recognition when Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse Magazine released their Division III preseason All-America teams late last week.
• Graduate transfer Tripp Clark was named to the Inside Lacrosse first team, while Bailey, Fascilla, Maher, Smith and Rooney all received an honorable mention. Additionally, both Clark and Fascilla both earned an honorable mention from USA Lacrosse Magazine.

GRADUATE ASSISTANCE
• The Beavers will have as many as six graduate students throughout the line-up this spring.
• In addition to Bower, Kalishman and Tauss, veterans of the program who received their undergraduate degrees from Babson, three transfer grad students include goalie Ben Anastos (Colorado College), defender Tripp Clark (St. Lawrence) and midfielder Justin Greene (Union).

LEGACY OF 79
• There will be a new standout, Bennett Smith, donning the No. 79 jersey for the Beavers, which was introduced prior to head coach Rocky Batty's first season to honor the legacy of the 1979 squad, which reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. 
• Niall Dillon '19 earned the jersey for his senior campaign 2019 before Lee Sipes '21 M'22 wore No. 79 from 2020-22 followed by Ford Carney '24 the past two seasons.

STREAKING BEAVERS
• Bower enters the season riding a 32-game points streak, dating back to March of 2023 and includes all 20 games last spring.
• Wang has at least one goal in his last 13 games, Tauss owns an eight-game points streak, and Smith has produced points in six straight outings. 
• Greene bring a three-game points streak with him to Babson from Union.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers, who open the season with four consecutive home games, went 9-0 at MacDowell Field last spring and are 16-2 at home over the past two seasons, including wins in the last 12 contests.
• Babson was 14-0 last season when leading at halftime.
• The Green and White went 14-3 last year when recording at least eight caused turnovers. 
• The Beavers finished 15-1 in 2024 when winning at least half the face-offs. 

UP NEXT
• Babson will host No. 17/17 Union on Saturday, February 22, at 1 p.m. at MacDowell Field.