WORCESTER, Mass.—Sophomore
Adam Stetson (Granby, Mass.) and senior
McKenzy Pierre (West Orange, N.J.) scored second-half goals to help visiting Babson College defeat WPI, 3-1, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's soccer action on Saturday afternoon on H. Carr Field at Alumni Stadium.
Babson, which has won three straight games and extended its unbeaten streak to five matches, improves to 9-2-4 overall and 4-0-2 in conference play. WPI slips to 2-7-5 overall and 2-2-2 in the NEWMAC with its second consecutive loss.
Senior
Ben Cosentino (Farmington, Conn.) provided a goal and classmate
Alexander Yablonovskiy (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) and sophomore
Tanner Michelson (Newport, R.I.) collected assists for the Beavers. First-year goalkeeper
Braden Condit (Denver, Colo.) made a season-high three saves in the victory.
Senior Nikolas Previte (Andover, Mass.) notched his fourth goal of the season and junior goalkeeper Savio Ketnouvong (Worcester, Mass.) made five of his six saves in the first half for the Engineers.
Ketnouvong made four saves over the first 19 minutes before the Green and White broke through on Cosentino's second goal of the year in the 27th minute. Yablonovskiy headed Michelson's long free kick from along the left sideline towards goal and Cosentino ran past a WPI defender and one-touched his finish inside the right post for a 1-0 lead.
The Engineers pulled even just over four minutes later though, as Previte shielded a pair of Babson defenders to control the rebound of first-year Danyil Kovryzhenko's (Merrimack, N.H.) blast off the crossbar and blasted a volley past Condit from the top of the six-yard box.
Sophomore
Will Boecher (Wellesley, Mass.) and senior
Will Lloyd (Lexington, Mass.) sent shots just wide of goal in the opening three minutes of the second half before the Beavers went in front for good in the 49th minute. The hosts were whistled for a handball on Cosentino's service from the right edge of the box and Stetson converted the ensuing penalty kick for his second goal of the year.
WPI had its best chance to equalize in the 82nd minute but sophomore Alan Barretto's (Exeter, N.H.) shot from inside 10 yards missed just wide of the right post. Pierre put the finishing touches on the win in the 90th minute by collecting a loose ball and carrying it 70 yards while weaving through a pair of Engineers' defenders before blasting a shot past Ketnouvong for his third goal of the season.
The Beavers finished with a 21-11 edge in shots and attempted seven of the nine corner kicks in a match that featured 27 combined fouls and six yellow cards.
Both teams return to action on Wednesday as Babson travels to Wheaton at 3 p.m., while WPI visits Emerson at 7 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 45-9-7 all-time against WPI and extended their unbeaten streak to 13 against the Engineers in Worcester (9-0-4) with Saturday's win.
• Babson is now 8-0-4 this fall when conceding one goal or fewer.
• The Green and White is 7-0-2 this season and 34-1-6 over the last three years when scoring the first goal of the match.
• The Beavers are 14-1-10 on the road versus NEWMAC foes going back to 2021.
