BABSON PARK, Mass.—Junior
Christian Gardner (Miami, Fla.) finished with a goal and an assist to help Babson College defeat the visiting Coast Guard Academy, 2-0, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's soccer action on Saturday afternoon at Hartwell-Rogers Field.
With the win, Babson extended its unbeaten streak to seven games and improved to 10-2-5 overall and 4-0-3 in conference play. The Beavers captured their fifth regular season league title since 2018 and concluded NEWMAC play unbeaten for the sixth time in the last eight seasons. Coast Guard closes out the regular season at 8-6-3 overall and 3-3-2 in the conference, and will be seeded either fourth or fifth in next week's NEWMAC Tournament.
Graduate student
Drew Stephans (Newton, Mass.) scored his first goal of the season and sophomore
Connor Hanrahan (Naperville, Ill.) provided an assist for the Beavers. First-year goalkeeper
Braeden Condit (Denver, Colo.) finished with three saves to record the third clean sheet of his career.
Senior goalkeeper Samuel Linkous (Gulf Breeze, Fla.) made a season-high nine saves in defeat for the Bears.
The Green and White put Coast Guard under pressure early and took the lead in the 27th minute on Gardner's second goal of the year. Hanrahan gained possession of the ball outside the box and drove toward the left post before slipping a pass across the goal mouth where Gardner stepped in front of a defender for a one-touch finish.
Linkous, who stopped seven shots in the opening half, made his best of the game diving to his right to catch Stephans' blast that was headed towards the upper left corner in the 31st minute to keep the visitors within striking distance. Condit made his best stop of the game to keep Babson in front in the 67th minute, coming off his line to the edge of the six-yard box to punch away a blast by senior Andres Villasana (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) following a turnover in the midfield.
The Beavers put the game away less than seven minutes later when Stephans took a feed from Gardner just inside the penalty spot and beat Linkous inside the right post for a 2-0 lead.
The Green and White finished with a 21-9 edge in shots, which included a 15-3 bulge over the opening 45 minutes. The Beavers also attempted four of the six corner kicks in the match.
Babson will host a NEWMAC Tournament semifinal on Friday at 1 p.m., while Coast Guard will play in Tuesday's quarterfinals. The full tournament bracket will be announced on Saturday night.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 45-9-9 all-time against Coast Guard and are unbeaten in the last nine matches (7-0-2) between the sides since 2018.
• Saturday's victory helped Babson improve to 26-2-2 at home versus NEWMAC foes since 2021.
• The Green and White is now 10-0-4 this fall when it leads or is tied going into halftime.
• Babson is 8-0-2 this season when scoring the first goal.
