BABSON PARK, Mass.— Junior Alexander Yablonovskiy (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) scored the only goal of the match in the ninth minute and the goal held up as No. 5 Babson College blanked Wesleyan University, 1-0, in a non-conference men's soccer game Saturday afternoon at Hartwell-Rogers Field.

With the win, the Beavers improve to 2-0-1 on the season while Wesleyan, which was defeated by Babson in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, suffered its first loss of the year and slid to 1-1-0.

Junior Ted Rosenfeld (Morristown, N.J.) registered an assist for the Beavers, and sophomore JB Montague (Lutz, Fla.) made five saves in goal for the clean sheet in his first career start.

Senior Mathis Blanc (Palo Alto, Calif.) recorded one save in goal for the Cardinals in the loss.

After the Cardinals had early pressure on the Beaver goal, including a shot by junior Joshwin Jennings (Parsippany, N.J.), the Green and White achieved success on their first shot of the game. Rosenfeld put a header on a loose ball inside the box towards the goal and Yablonovskiy redirected the ball with a header of his own that found the upper right corner of the goal for his score goal in as many games this season.

Strong defense controlled the remainder of the first half as the visitors managed just two shots on goal and Babson had just the one attempt.

Wesleyan had its best chance to score in the 66th minute but Montague made a superb diving save to his left on a shot from junior Yousuf Saeed (Houston, Texas) from about 12 yards out. The Beavers had a good scoring opportunity in the 81st minute when Yablonovskiy set up first-year Will Boecher (Wellesley, Mass.) on a counter attack but Boecher's shot from the top of the box went wide right.

The visitors finished with a 5-2 advantage in shots on goal while total shots were tied at 7-7. Wesleyan was awarded the only two corner kicks in the game.

Babson will make its first road trip of the season on Tuesday with a visit to Gordon for a 7 p.m. match-up. Wesleyan also returns to action on Tuesday with a visit to Western Connecticut for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is 9-6-4 all-time against Wesleyan in a series that dates back to 1980. 
• After the teams did not play each other for nearly three decades, the Beavers are 2-0-1 against the Cardinals in the last calendar year.
• The Beavers are unbeaten in 23 straight matches at home (17-0-6) since suffering a 2-1 loss to Connecticut College on September 23, 2023.
• The Green and White are 2-1-4 against schools from the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) since the beginning of last season.