MARLBOROUGH, Mass.—Five members of the Babson College men's lacrosse team were named to the First Team and three more earned Second Team recognition when the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) announced its All-Conference teams on Thursday afternoon.
Seniors
Brendan Maher (Melrose, Mass.) and
Alex Fascilla (Huntington, N.Y.), sophomore
Seamus Rooney (Bay Shore, N.Y.) and graduate students
Topher Bower (Chicago, Ill.) and
Tripp Clark (Byfield, Mass.) are Babson's representatives on the All-Conference First Team, while grad student
Sammy Kalishman (Clarksville, Md.), senior
Will Reading (Southlake, Texas) and junior
Bennett Smith (Lake Oswego, Ore.) are Second Team selections.
Maher becomes a four-time All-NEWMAC honoree and three-time First Team selection, Fascilla, Bower, Kalishman, Smith and Rooney were recognized for the second time, and Clark and Reading are first-time picks.
Maher and
Clark anchor a Babson defense that leads the NEWMAC and ranks 39th in Division III, allowing 9.05 goals per game and holding 11 of their 17 opponents to less than 10 goals. Maher has started all 19 games and is second on the team with 23 caused turnovers and 45 ground balls. Clark, who received his first All-NEWMAC recognition after earning All-Liberty League and All-America honors a year ago while playing at St. Lawrence, started 16 games for the Beavers and ranks fourth in the NEWMAC with 29 caused turnovers and has scooped up 62 ground balls.
Maher has started all 74 of his career games for Babson over the past four years and has accumulated 78 forced turnovers and 161 ground balls. He ranks sixth on Babson's all-time list for career caused turnovers and 12th in career ground balls.
Fascilla has enjoyed another standout season between the pipes for the Beavers, registering a 13-5 record and leading the NEWMAC with an 8.75 goals against average and a .576 save percentage with a league-leading 197 saves. He currently ranks eighth on Babson's single-season saves list and his 13 victories are tied for most in any season with Will Parducci, who also won 13 back in 2023.
A four-year veteran and two-year starter, Faschilla ranks 23rd in Division III in goals against average and 30th in save percentage. He is fourth on Babson's all-time list with 23 wins and is currently eighth with 420 saves, all but three of which have come over the last two seasons.
Bower started 17 games for the Beavers and ranks fifth on the team in scoring with 26 points on 11 goals and 15 assists. He has at least one point in 16 of the 17 outings, and had multiple points in nine games, including a pair of goals and an assist against Coast Guard.
A five-year veteran and a starter in 61 of his 74 games, Bower (68-89-157) ranks third on Babson's all-time assists list and is tied for eighth on the career points list.
Rooney followed up his rookie of the year campaign in 2024 with another standout season this spring. He has started all 19 games and leads the team in scoring with 32 goals, 27 assists and 59 points. He ranks 10th in the NEWMAC in goals and fourth in both assists and points. He has at least one point in all 19 games and has multiple points in 13 contests, including a career-high eight points against Western New England and against Western Connecticut in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Despite missing his last six games in 2024 due to injury, Rooney has started 32 of his 33 career outings and has tallied 63 goals and 38 assists for 101 points.
Kalishman, a five-year standout as a short-stick defensive middie, was a strong contributor to the Beavers' league-leading defense. He played in all 19 games and forced nine turnovers and picked up 48 ground balls to go along with four goals and three assists. A veteran of 77 career games, he has nine goals and 14 assists for 23 points along with 42 caused turnovers and 172 ground balls. He ranks 12th on Babson's all-time list for career ground balls.
Smith has started all 19 games for the Beavers this spring and is fourth on the team in scoring with 34 points on 19 goals and 15 assists, including a team-high five man-up goals. He produced at least one point in 17 of his 19 games, and multiple points in eight contests. A starter in 51 of his 57 career games, he has tallied 52 goals and 75 assists and 127 points and ranks sixth among Babson's all-time assists leaders and 15th on the career points list.
Reading has had an impressive season in his first year as a starting face-off man for the Beavers. He has won 206-of-373 face-offs for a .552 winning percentage, which leads the NEWMAC in face-off wins and ranks eighth in winning percentage. He also leads the team and ranks second in the NEWMAC with 101 ground balls, just the eighth individual in program history to scoop up more than 100 ground balls in a season. He is 278-of-522 on face-offs for his career (.533), which ranks fourth in program history in face-offs won.
Babson (14-5) defeated Western Connecticut 24-4 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and will travel to No. 5 Wesleyan for a second round contest on Saturday at 12 p.m. in Middletown, Conn.
