Men's Lacrosse at Union 
Saturday, February 21 | 1 p.m. 
Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium | Schenectady, N.Y.

SERIES HISTORY
•    Babson is 1-16 all-time against Union in a series that dates back to 2009.
•    The Beavers picked up their first win over the Garnet Chargers in program history last February after suffering one-goal losses in 2012, 2017 and 2024. 
•    The Green and White is seeking its first road win in the all-time series on Saturday. 

LAST MEETING
•    Junior Anthony Stillwell scored four goals, Alex Fascilla '25 made 15 saves and the Beavers outscored Union 6-2 in the second half on the way to an 11-9 victory on February 22, 2025, in Babson Park. 
•    Junior Camden Matthews scored twice, Riley Shaw '26 and junior Seamus Rooney both provided a goal and an assist, and Tripp Clark M'25 scooped up seven ground balls and had four caused turnovers for Babson, which trailed 7-5 at the half and took the lead for good on a tally by junior Cooper Chapman with 5:01 to go in the fourth quarter. 
•    Walker Popko scored four times, Archie McEvoy finished with three goals and one assist, and Luke McHugh won 12-of-20 face-offs and picked up eight ground balls for the Garnet Chargers, who converted 11-of-12 second-half clears but went 0-for-3 on extra-man opportunities.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
•    Babson (1-0) opened the season with a 19-7 win over Wentworth last Saturday at MacDowell Field. 
•    Seniors Luke D'Orsi (4g, 2a), Bennett Smith (4g, 1a) and Braden Reilly (3g, 1a) combined for 15 points, graduate student Beau Burns and senior Will Reading won 17-of-21 face-offs and sophomore Andrew Almquist made seven saves in his first career start for Babson, which scored eight times in less than seven minutes to build a 10-2 lead early int the second quarter. 
•    The Green and White returns 39 players from a team that went 14-6 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament last May, highlighted by the quartet of Rooney (35-28-63), Matthews (36-11-47), junior Sam Sisk (22-15-37) and Smith (19-15-34). 
•    Reading won 54.6 percent of his face-offs and scooped up 104 ground balls last spring, junior Ryan St. Onge (21 GB, 16 CT) and sophomore Grayson Ambrosh (18 GB, 11 CT) ranked third and fifth respectively on the team in caused turnovers, and Almquist posted a .615 save percentage in 125 minutes of action in between the pipes. 

SCOUTING THE GARNET CHARGERS
•    Union (0-1) opened the season with a 14-13 loss to Bates on Wednesday afternoon. 
•    Popko finished with career highs of seven goals and nine points, Mekhi Taylor and Emmett Lyne both scored twice and Nick Lynch made 11 saves for the Garnet Chargers, who converted just 2-of-7 extra-man opportunities and allowed four straight goals to the Bobcats to start the fourth quarter. 
•    Union returns four of its top six scorers in Popko (34-8-42), Mike Wall (13-9-22), Taylor (15-6-21) and Lyne (11-4-15) from a team that went 4-10 with five losses by three goals or fewer. 
•    Jack Lucey (34 GB, 14 CT) and John Sula (41 GB, 13 CT) finished first and second on the team in caused turnovers, Luke Tranter, who was 12-of-28 in Wednesday's season opener, won 66 percent of his face-offs last season, and Lynch posted an 11.81 goals against average and a .592 save percentage while starting the final 12 games of the 2025 campaign. 

READING EARNS CONFERENCE RECOGNITION
•    After winning 9-of-12 face-offs and tying for game-high honors with six ground balls in the season opener against Wentworth, Reading was selected as the NEWMAC Face-off Specialist of the Week on Monday. 
•    Reading needs just one more face-off win to become the fifth player in Babson history to reach 300 for his career and is seven away from matching Connor Maloney '18 for fourth all-time, and is also now 18th all-time with 138 ground balls. 

GREEN AT THE TOP
•    After capturing their third consecutive NEWMAC Tournament championship last May, the Beavers received seven of eight first-place votes to finish atop the preseason coaches' poll.
•    Babson, which enters the year seeking its third regular season league title since 2023, finished ahead of last-year's regular season champions Springfield, while MIT, Salve Regina and Coast Guard rounded out the top five. 

ROONEY GARNERS PRESEASON HONORS
•    After leading the Green and White in scoring last season, Rooney earned USA Lacrosse Magazine All-America honorable mention honors earlier this month. 
•    A two-time All-NEWMAC selection and NEILA All-New England pick last spring, Rooney had six goals and six assists in two NCAA Tournament games and has produced 66 goals and 39 assists for 105 points in 34 career games over his first two seasons. 

BEAVER BITES
•    Senior Jack Feeks produced a career-high three points on a goal and two assists in Saturday's win over Wentworth.
•    Burns, who transferred from Bowdoin, won 8-of-9 face-offs and collected six ground balls, while sophomore Beck Trafton returned to action after suffering a season-ending injury last April by going 4-of-4 on face-offs in the Beavers' season-opening win.
•    Junior Ellis McDonald, who transferred from Ohio State, and graduate student Mason Dorr, who joined the program from Vermont, both recorded one ground ball and one caused turnover in Saturday's win, while Providence graduate transfer Patrick McAleavey provided one assist and picked up two ground balls in his first game for the Beavers. 
•    Sophomore Jake Murray and first-year Alex Schobel scored their first collegiate goals, while senior Jackson Simon dished out his first career assist in the victory over the Leopards. 

LEGACY OF '79
•    Smith will don the No. 79 jersey for the second straight year for the Beavers, a tradition which was introduced prior to head coach Rocky Batty's first season. It honors the legacy of the 1979 squad, which reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history and was the only team to qualify from 1967-2021.
•    Niall Dillon '19 earned the jersey for his senior campaign 2019 before Lee Sipes '21 M'22 wore No. 79 from 2020-22, followed by Ford Carney '24 in 2023-24 and Smith last season.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    The Beavers are 15-0 going back to the start of last season when scoring 10 or more goals.
•    Since the start of the 2024 campaign, Babson is 26-3 when winning at least 50 percent of its face-offs. 
•    The Green and White went 11-1 in 2025 when finishing with eight or more caused turnovers. 
•    Going back to 2022, the Beavers are 47-2 when taking a lead into the fourth quarter. 

UP NEXT
•    Babson returns to Schenectady, N.Y., next Saturday to face No. 4/7 RIT at 1 p.m.