No. 4/8 Men's Lacrosse vs. Coast Guard
Thursday, April 30 | 7 p.m. 
MacDowell Field | Babson Park, Mass.

WHAT TO KNOW
• Babson will be seeking its fourth straight NEWMAC Tournament championship and fifth in six years this week, beginning with a post-season contest Thursday at MacDowell Field.
• After receiving a first-round bye, the top-seeded Beavers will host fifth-seeded Coast Guard in a semifinal matchup at 7 p.m.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 8-4 all-time against Coast Guard in a series that dates back to 2015.
• The Beavers are 4-2 and have won three in a row against the Bears at MacDowell Field, including a 16-6 victory earlier this month.
• Six of the 12 games played between the squads have been decided by three goals or fewer.

POSTSEASON HISTORY
• Babson is 2-0 all-time against Coast Guard in the conference playoffs, winning once at home and once on the road.
• The Beavers edged the Bears 15-14 in the 2023 NEWMAC semifinals at MacDowell Field and posted a 15-7 victory over Coast Guard in the NEWMAC final in New London, Conn., in the Covid-19-shortened 2021 season.

LAST GAME
• Graduate student Joey Allen tallied four goals and an assist, classmate Beau Burns and sophomore Beck Trafton combined to win 16-of-25 face-offs, and sophomore Andrew Almquist made 12 saves in goal as No. 5/8 Babson defeated Coast Guard, 16-6, on April 4, 2026, at MacDowell Field.
• Senior Bennett Smith and junior Camden Matthews both finished with two goals and an assist and senior Jack Feeks produced a goal and two assists to lead a group of 11 different goal scorers. Burns was 11-of-17 at the face-off X with a team-high eight ground balls while Trafton was 5-of-8 while also scoring his first goal of the season. Sophomore Mark Brown caused two turnovers and scooped up three ground balls and grad student Mason Dorr collected four ground balls in the victory.
• Sophomore Ezekial Christian scored two goals and added an assist for the Bears, and junior Max Silver potted a pair of goals in the setback. Senior Ben Nocerito caused a career-high five turnovers, and he and sophomore Owen Pray shared team-high honors with five ground balls each. Senior Dustin Miller had a busy day in the Bears' goal and finished with a season-high 18 saves.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Top-seeded Babson (14-2, 7-0 NEWMAC), ranked fourth in Division III by the USILA and eighth by USA Lacrosse Magazine, has won six of its last seven games following an 12-8 triumph at MIT on Saturday in the regular season finale in Cambridge.
• Allen (2g, 3a) and Matthews (3g) combined for five goals and three assists, Almquist made 14 saves and Babson scored six unanswered goals in the third and fourth quarters to secure the victory. Feeks tallied two goals and an assist, Smith and junior Seamus Rooney chipped in with a goal and an assist each, and senior Tyee Ambrosh had two caused turnovers and three ground balls. Almquist added four ground balls to his 12th double-digit save performance this season.
• Allen (34-21-55) is fourth in the NEWMAC in goals and points and eighth in assists, and the next five players have between 20 and 26 goals, including Smith (22-25-47), senior Braden Reilly (20-22-42), Matthews (26-10-36), Rooney (22-7-29) and graduate student Patrick McAleavey (21-3-24). Grad student Beau Burns has won 74.4 percent of his face-offs (166-223) and leads the team with 123 ground balls and Trafton (.462) has won 60-of-130 face-offs.
• Ambrosh has a team-high 17 caused turnovers and juniors Ellis McDonald (9 CTs, 12 GBs) and Ryan St. Onge (10 CTs, 20 GBs) and senior Sam Erjavac (5 CTs, 11 GBs) anchor a Beaver defense that leads the NEWMAC conceding 8.3 goals per game. Almquist (8.56 GAA,.618 sv. pct., 210 svs) leads the NEWMAC in GAA, save percentage and total saves.

SCOUTING THE BEARS
• Fifth-seeded Coast Guard (5-9, 3-4 NEWMAC) earned a berth in the semifinals with a 10-8 victory at fourth-seeded Salve Regina Tuesday evening in a first-round game in Middletown, R.I.
• Christian (4g, 3a) and senior Patrick Smith (4g, 1a) led the Bears to a 7-2 halftime lead and Miller made five of his 15 saves in the second half to hold off a Seahawk comeback attempt. Junior Mason Tucker won 7-of-10 face-offs and scooped up five ground balls, and junior Jamison Wildt and first-year Matt Lombardi each produced two caused turnovers and four ground balls in the victory.
• Christian (26-28-54) is second in the NEWMAC in assists and sixth in points and Smith (25-6-31) is a strong scorer from the midfield. Tucker (120-250) has won 48 percent of his face-offs and collected a team-high 77 ground balls, and Nocerito (24), Wildt (24) and junior Eric Key (22) all have 20+ ground balls.
• Wildt (17 CT) and senior Frederick (13 CT) anchor a Bears' defense that allows 11.9 goals per game. Miller (11.77 GAA, .554 sv. pct, 103 svs) and junior Brett Tobasky (12.41 GAA, .507 sv. pct, 77 svs) have each started seven games in goal for the Bears.

CONFERENCE TOURNEY HISTORY
• Babson is making its 26th appearance in the NEWMAC Tournament semifinals since 1999, going 4-1 since 2021, 8-4 since 2011 and 11-13 overall.
• The Green and White have captured seven conference championships in program history, three prior to the formation of the NEWMAC (1979, 1980, 1990) and four in the NEWMAC (2021, 2023, 2024, 2025).
• Seven of the Beavers' last 15 NEWMAC Tournament games have been decided by one or two goals, which includes a 12-10 victory over Springfield in last year's final.

TOURNAMENT TESTED
• Smith has recorded three goals and 10 assists in six NEWMAC Tournament games in his career and junior Jake Sisk tallied five goals and three assists in two conference tournament games last year to earn Most Outstanding Player honors.
• Matthews has four goals and one assist in four career NEWMAC post-season games, and Rooney has two goals and one assists in a pair of conference tourney outings.

BABSON VS. THE NEWMAC
• The Beavers are 30-2 against conference opponents dating back to the beginning of the 2023 season.
• The Green and White outscored the NEWMAC foes 118-41 in the regular season this spring.

MACDOWELL MENACES
• The Beavers bring a 6-2 home record into Thursday's game with wins in 16 of their last 19 home games dating back to last season.
• The Green and White have won 25 of their last 28 home games going back to the start of the 2024 campaign.
• Babson has outscored its opponents at home this season, 121-58.

BEAVERS EARN WEEKLY RECOGNITION
• Weekly honors continue to roll in for the Beavers as Allen was named NEWMAC Offensive Athlete of the Week and earned a spot on the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (NEILA) Team of the Week on Monday.
• Allen produced two goals and three assists for five points as Babson defeated MIT, 12-8, in Saturday's regular season finale.
• Allen received the NEWMAC honor for the fourth time this season and was recognized by the NEILA for the third time.

WALL BETWEEN THE PIPES
• Almquist has been outstanding in the crease for the Beavers in his first year as the starter, posting double-digit saves in 12 of his 16 games.
• The Babson sophomore is ranked eighth in Division III in save percentage (.618) and 31st in goals against average (8.68).
• Almquist set the single-season program record with his 14th win of the season in goal last Saturday, and his 210 saves are seventh on the single-season saves list.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
• Smith (74-100-174) became the third player in program history to record 100 assists last Saturday and is in sixth place on the Babson career scoring list with 174 points.
• Rooney has moved up to 13th on the program's career goal scoring list with 88 goals, and is also 16th on the career points list with 134.
• Burns has produced 166 face-off wins this year, which ranks seventh on the Babson single-season face-off wins list, and his 123 ground balls are third-most in a season in program history.
• Tyee Ambrosh has moved into 17th place all-time with 38 caused turnovers.

BEAVER BITES
• Smith has multiple points in 14 of 16 games this season, and he is the only Beaver who has points in all 16 games.
• Allen has at least three points in eight of his last nine games and at least one point in 14 of his 15 appearances.
• Rooney brings a 32-game point streak into the game dating back to the start of last season.
• Matthews has three points in five of his last six games and 10 of his 15 outings. McAleavey has points in 15 of his 16 games this spring.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson is 4-1 this year, 7-3 since last season, and 15-5 going back to 2023 in games that start after 6 p.m.
• The Green and White have won 28 in a row since the start of last year when scoring at least 10 goals.
• The Beavers are 11-1 this season and 22-3 going back to last spring when holding a lead at halftime.
• Since the start of the 2024 campaign, Babson is 36-4 when winning at least 50 percent of its face-offs. 
• Going back to 2023, the Beavers are 18-6 in the month of April. 

UP NEXT
• The winner of Thursday's game will advance to face the winner of Thursday's other semifinal between third-seeded Springfield and second-seeded MIT in the NEWMAC championship game on Saturday at the site of the highest remaining seed.