No. 6/6 Men's Lacrosse vs. Springfield
Saturday, March 21 | 1 p.m. 
MacDowell Field | Babson Park, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 10-33 all-time against Springfield in a series that dates back to the late 1970s. 
• The Beavers have won seven of their last 10 games versus the Pride since 2018 and are 3-2 vs. Springfield at MacDowell Field since 2021. 
• The Pride won last year's regular season game at home, 9-6, but Babson captured the NEWMAC title game in Springfield, 12-10.
• Nine of the last 12 games between the teams have been decided by four goals or fewer. 

LAST GAME
• Junior Sam Sisk scored twice during a decisive eight-goal run in the second half to help second-seeded Babson rally to defeat top-seeded Springfield, 12-10, in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament final on May 3, 2025 at Stagg Field in Springfield.
• Junior Camden Matthews had two goals and one assist, senior Will Reading scored twice, won 12-of-24 face-offs and led all players with eight ground balls, and classmate Bennett Smith contributed a goal and an assist as well four ground balls and two caused turnovers for the Beavers. Tripp Clark M'25 scooped up seven ground ball and had two forced turnovers, while Alex Fascilla '25 made 11 saves in the victory.
• Junior Jake Degnan led all players with six points on three goals and three assists, while senior Matt Webb finished with three goals to pace the Pride. Vincent Scialdone '25 won 13-of-23 face-offs, Gavin Carzello M'25 tied for game-high honors with eight ground balls and two caused turnovers, and Kaden Quirk '25 stopped 13 shots in defeat.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (7-0, 1-0 NEWMAC), ranked No. 6 by both the USILA and USA Lacrosse Magazine, kept its unbeaten season going with a 14-9 victory over No. 18/16 Middlebury on Sunday at MacDowell Field.
• Smith (3g, 1a), junior Seamus Rooney (2g, 2a) and graduate student Joey Allen (4a) tallied four points apiece and Babson finished the game with five unanswered goals over the final 13 minutes. Matthews notched three goals, grad student Patrick McAleavey scored twice, and senior Braden Reilly contributed a goal and two assists in the win. Grad student Beau Burns won 17-of-26 face-offs and picked up a game-high 13 ground balls, junior Bruno Batty caused three turnovers and scooped up three GBs, and sophomore Andrew Almquist made an impressive 11 saves in goal for the Green and White.
• The Beavers boast a balanced offense with Reilly (9-12-21), Matthews (15-5-20), Allen (11-9-20) and Smith (13-6-19) all within two points of the team scoring lead. Burns has a 72.9 success rate (86-118) on face-offs and leads the team with 62 ground balls.
• Senior Tyee Ambrosh has a team-high eight caused turnovers, followed by grad student Mason Dorr (7) and Smith (6). Almquist has posted a 9.29 goals against average and a .575 save percentage with 88 saves in seven starts between the pipes this season.

SCOUTING THE PRIDE
• Springfield (5-3, 1-0 NEWMAC) won its third straight game by at least eight goals with a 14-4 victory over crosstown rival Western New England on Wednesday.
• Degnan tallied four points on two goals and two assists, and Webb, junior Rory Scanlon, and sophomore Ryan Berkel scored two goals apiece for the Pride, who ran off six-goal streaks in both halves. Senior Reece Whitney caused three turnovers and scooped up four ground balls, and first-year Joseph Grenier made 11 saves in goal in the victory.
• Berkel (13-11-24) and Degnan (13-11-24) share the team scoring lead for the Pride and Webb (10-4-14) has scored all 10 of his goals in the last five games. Sophomore Dominic Savastano has won 45.0 percent of his face-offs (81-of-180) and grabbed 43 ground balls, Whitney has 15 caused turnovers and 30 ground balls, and sophomore Angus Oliveira has 12 CTs and 24 GBs.
• Grenier (8.67 GAA, .573 sv. pct, 47 svs) and senior Ian Cote (11.10 GAA, .511 sv. pct, 46 svs) have each started four games in goal, with Grenier posting a 3-1 record while Cote is 2-2.

SUCCESS IN THE NEWMAC
• The Beavers are 19-2 against conference opponents over the last three regular seasons on the way to three consecutive NEWMAC tournament championships.
• The Green and White went 5-2 against conference foes in the regular season last spring after going 6-0 in 2023 and 7-0 in 2024.

BURNS, ALMQUIST, AND MATTHEWS EARNS CONFERENCE AND REGIONAL RECOGNITION
• After a pair of victories over nationally-ranked Amherst and Middlebury and a win over Wheaton in the conference opener, Babson swept the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) weekly awards as Matthews and Almquist were named Offensive and Defensive Athletes of the Week and Burns was tabbed Face-Off Specialist of the Week on Monday.
• Burns and Almquist followed that up with spots on the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Team of the Week, while Burns and Matthews garnered New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (NEILA) Team of the Week accolades.
• Almquist totaled 37 saves in three games while posting a 9.33 goals against average and a .569 save percentage to go along with nine ground balls and three caused turnovers. Burns won 77.6 percent of his face-offs (52-of-67) and scooped up 40 ground balls in the 3-0 week, and Matthews recorded a pair of hat tricks and paced a balanced attack with eight goals and two assists for 10 points. 

MACDOWELL MONSTERS
• Babson is 3-0 at MacDowell Field this season, outscoring their three opponents 52-24.
• The Green and White are 13-1 at home going back to the beginning of last season and have won 22 of their last 23 home games going back to the start of the 2024 campaign.
• The Beavers outscored their opponents 176-89 in 11 home games last season, and had a 317-159 goal advantage at home the past two years.

A BALANCE OF GOALS
• The Beavers have outscored their opponents 114-65 in the first seven games with 18 multi-goal scorers and at least one goal from 26 different players.
• Matthews has at least two goals in six outings, McAleavey has at least one goal in his last six contests, and Smith and Reilly have at least one goal in six of their seven games.
• Rooney has scored in four straight games and five of his last six, and Stillwell has scored in five of his seven outings.

BEAVER BITES
• Burns, who has won 68 of his last 86 face-offs (79.1 percent) with 50 ground balls over the past four games, has climbed to 13th in Division III with a 72.9 face-off winning percentage.
• Reilly (9-12-21) has surpassed his point total from the last two seasons (9-7-16).
• Tyee Ambrosh has at least one caused turnover in five of his last six games and scooped up a ground ball in five straight outings.
• Rooney extended his point streak to 26 games going back to last season with two goals and two assists against Middlebury.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Green and White have won 21 in a row since the start of last year when scoring at least 10 goals.
• The Beavers are 5-0 this season and 16-2 going back to last spring when holding a lead at halftime.
• Since the start of the 2024 campaign, Babson is 33-3 when winning at least 50 percent of its face-offs. 
• Going back to 2023, the Beavers are 20-5 in the month of March. 

UP NEXT
• Babson will host No. 3/3 Bowdoin on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at MacDowell Field.