BABSON PARK, Mass.— Sophomores Camden Matthews (Westford, Mass.) and Seamus Rooney (Bay Shore, N.Y.) and junior Bennett Smith (Lake Oswego, Ore.) combined for eight goals and three assists as No. 20/14 Babson College powered past Roger Williams University, 16-5, in the men's lacrosse season opener for both schools Saturday afternoon at MacDowell Field.

Babson (1-0) won its season opener for the ninth consecutive season while Roger Williams starts the year at 0-1.

Matthews scored a game-high four goals, Rooney added two goals and two assists and Smith chipped in with a pair of goals and an assist for the Beavers. Graduate student Sammy Kalishman (Clarksville, Md.) produced a goal and an assist and 11 different Beavers scored goals, including the first career markers for sophomores Andrew Berardi (Orleans, Mass), Anthony Stillwell (Weston, Mass.) and Sam Sisk (Madison, Conn.) and first-years Andrew Almquist (Wakefield, Mass.) and Beck Trafton (Miami Beach, Fla.).

It was also a strong defensive effort for the Beavers, who kept the Hawks scoreless in the middle two quarters. Graduate transfer Tripp Clark (Byfield, Mass.) contributed team-highs with three caused turnovers and nine ground balls and senior Alex Fascilla (Huntington, N.Y.) made seven saves in his 56 minutes between the pipes. Junior Will Reading (Southlake, Texas) won nine of 17 face-offs and scooped up seven ground balls.

Sophomore Eric Brooks (Milford, Mass.) and senior Malcolm Steegstra (Gloucester, Mass.) led the Hawks with a goal and an assist each, and defensive standout junior Kyle Zim (Chester, N.H.) had one goal to go along with team highs of three caused turnovers and three ground balls. Senior Jack Kester (Londonderry, N.H.) and sophomore Brady Lee (Mattapoisett, Mass.) chipped in with a goal apiece, junior David Rizzo (Methuen, Mass.) won 11 of 22 face-offs, and junior Aaron D'Aversa (Sea Cliff, N.Y.) was solid in goal, finishing with 13 saves.

The Beavers jumped out to a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter on a goal by graduate student Topher Bower (Chicago, Ill.) and a pair by Matthews. The Hawks answered with goals by Brooks and Kester to cut the margin to one goal before Matthews added his third of the frame to make it 4-2 after one.

Babson extended its lead to 7-2 by halftime with goals by Kalishman, Smith and Rooney in the second stanza, and pushed the lead to 9-2 after three quarters on goals by Berardi and Stillwell. Steegstra opened the fourth quarter scoring for the visitors but the Green and White put the game away with the next five scores in a seven-minute span, including goals by Trafton, graduate transfer Justin Greene (Norwell, Mass.), Matthews, senior Riley Shaw (Duluth, Ga.) and Rooney.

The Beavers finished with a 52-28 advantage in shots and a 40-23 margin in ground balls. Babson was 16-of-18 on clear attempts while limiting the Hawks to 17 clears on 28 attempts, and the hosts captured 12 of the game's 23 face-offs.

The Beavers are back in action next Saturday, February 22, at No. 17/17 Union with a 1 p.m. matchup at MacDowell Field. Roger Williams plays its home opener against in-state rival Salve Regina on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• Babson has won its last nine games against Roger Williams and is 15-1 all-time in a series that dates back to 1990.
• The Beavers won their 14th consecutive home game dating back to April 22, 2023.
• The Green and White 16-1 in their last 17 games dating back to last season when winning at least half the face-offs.
• Bower extended his point streak to 33 games, going back to March of 2023.