No. 3 Men's Lacrosse vs. No. 10 RIT
NCAA Tournament | Quarterfinals
Friday, May 15 | 7:00 p.m.
Whittier Field | Brunswick, Maine

WHAT TO KNOW
• The third-ranked Babson College men's lacrosse team will make their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals on Friday evening in Brunswick, Maine.
• The Beavers will face No. 10 RIT Friday at 7 p.m. at Bowdoin College, with the winner advancing to the semifinals on Saturday at 7 p.m.

GAME SCHEDULE
Friday, May 15 | Quarterfinals
RV Hope (20-0) vs. No. 2 Bowdoin (18-1), 4 p.m.
No. 10 RIT (17-4) vs. No. 3 Babson (18-2), 7 p.m. 
Saturday, May 16 | Semifinals
Quarterfinal winners, 7 p.m.

SERIES HISTORY
• RIT owns a 2-1 lead over Babson in a series that dates back to 2023.
• The first two games took place in the NCAA Tournament third round at Tiger Stadium in Rochester, N.Y., with RIT winning in 2023 (20-9) and 2024 (23-16). RIT went on to the NCAA semifinals in 2023 and lost to Tufts in the championship game in 2024.
• The Beavers captured a regular season game, 16-12, earlier this season in Schenectady, N.Y.

LAST MEETING
• Graduate student Joey Allen led all players with eight points on five goals and three assists and No. 20 Babson never trailed in a 16-12 win over No. 4/5 RIT on February 28 at Union's Frank Bailey Field. 
• Junior Camden Matthews scored three goals and produced four points, graduate student Patrick McAleavey tallied twice and senior Jack Feeks contributed a goal and two assists for the Beavers, who saw nine different players score. Senior Will Reading won 7-of-13 face-offs, classmate Sam Erjavac scooped up three ground balls and had one caused turnover, and sophomore Andrew Almquist made a career-high 21 saves in goal in the victory.
• Junior Erich Acton, sophomore Ryan Bullock and first-year Evan Lyon each scored twice to pace the Tigers' attack. Junior Joe Holenstein led all players with four ground balls and four caused turnovers, graduate student Jamie Hunt forced three turnovers, and senior Alex Zborowski made 13 saves in the loss.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 6th
Best NCAA Finish: 2026 quarterfinals 
• Babson (18-2) advanced to the quarterfinals with a 26-8 victory over Massachusetts Maritime last Saturday and a 13-9 triumph over No. 20 St. Lawrence on Sunday in the second and third rounds at MacDowell Field in Babson Park.
• Graduate student Beau Burns won 19-of-23 face-offs and collected nine ground balls and junior Seamus Rooney scored twice in a six-goal fourth-quarter surge as Babson pulled away from St. Lawrence. Rooney (2g, 1a), senior Bennett Smith (2g, 1a), and junior Andrew Berardi (2g, 1a), each tallied three points to lead the Beavers while senior Braden Reilly scored twice and five others produced one goal apiece. Senior Tyee Ambrosh caused two turnovers and scooped up three ground balls, and Almquist made six saves to earn the win in goal.
• Allen (42-25-67) has a nine-game goal scoring streak with 21 goals in that span, Smith (27-31-58) has a  point in all 20 games and multiple points in 18 outings, and Reilly (28-24-52) had a season-high five goals and six points in the NCAA win over Mass Maritime. Matthews (30-11-41), Rooney (29-12-41) and McAleavey (31-4-35) give the Beavers six players with at least 27 goals and 35 points. Burns has won 74.9 percent of his face-offs (194-259) and leads the team with 137 ground balls and Reading (.528) has won 38-of-72 face-offs.
• Ambrosh (22 CT, 35 GB) and graduate student Mason Dorr (19 CT, 44 GB) have combined for 41 caused turnovers and 79 ground balls. Almquist (8.31 GAA,.607 sv. pct., 244 svs) has started all 20 games for the Beavers between the pipes.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 26th
Best NCAA Finish: National Champions (2021, 2022)
• No. 10 RIT (17-4) advanced to the quarterfinals with back-to-back victories over Elmhurst (19-6) and No. 5 Salisbury (12-11 OT) last weekend in Salisbury, Md.
• Sophomore Ryan Sanders scored a season-high seven goals including the overtime game-winner against Salisbury. Senior Ethan Harkins tallied a goal and three assists and junior Jackson McEnerney scored two goals. Junior Logan Fletcher led the Tigers with three caused turnovers and scooped up five ground balls while Holenstein and senior Alexander Chairs each grabbed four ground balls. Zborowski made 13 saves in goal in the win.
• The Tigers have a strong 1-2 punch with Acton (49-29-78) and Sanders (57-18-75). Harkins (28-24-52) is a 20-20 contributor and senior Tyson Allison (27-26-43), junior David Charney (26-14-40) and Bullock (23-16-39) give the Tigers six players with at least 23 goals and 39 points. First-year Philip Minardo (181-300, .603) and Ethan Spillane (124-250, .496) are formidable face-off men.
• Holenstein (31 CT, 78 GB), Fletcher (30 CT, 43 GB) and Hunt (28 CT, 12 GB) anchor a defense that allowed 9.3 goals per game. Zborowski (9.09 GAA, .542 sv. pct., 136 svs) has 12 double-digit save performances this season.

BABSON IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT 
• After competing in just one NCAA Tournament appearance (1979) in the first 50 years of the program, the Beavers are making their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last six seasons and the sixth in program history, posting a 3-5 record in their first five showings.
• The Green and White routed Western Connecticut in the opening round last season in Babson Park, 24-4, before falling to No. 5 Wesleyan in the second round, 16-7, in Middletown, Conn.
• Babson defeated No. 19 Denison in the second round of the 2024 tournament, 12-10, before falling to No. 2/3 RIT, 23-16, in the third round in Rochester, N.Y.
• The Green and White defeated Williams, 16-10, in the second round of the 2023 championships for the program's first NCAA Tournament win before falling to RIT, 20-9, in the third round.
• The first NCAA appearance for Babson was back in 1979, when the Beavers fell to Maryland-Baltimore County in the Division II tourney, 22-7, in Baltimore.

TOURNAMENT TESTED
• Smith and Tyee Ambrosh entered the weekend having each played in eight NCAA Tournament games, with Smith notching 12 goals and eight assists and Ambrosh collecting nine ground balls and causing seven turnovers.
• Matthews (7g, 3a), Feeks (4g ,1a),  and Rowan Mondello (1g, 2a) have all appeared in six NCAA Tournament games, while juniors Bruno Batty (8 GB, 4 CT) and Ryan St. Onge (2 GB, 2 CT) and senior Will Reading (45-75 FO) have seen action in five NCAA games.
• Rooney (10g, 9a) has played in four NCAA games, Reilly (9g, 3a) has played in three games, and Almquist (17 GA, 24 svs) has seen action in roughly 113 minutes in four games with two starts.
• Berardi (6g, 2a), juniors Sam Sisk (3g, 5a) and Anthony Stillwell (3g, 2a) have played in four NCAA games, and classmate Cooper Chapman (3g, 2a) has three NCAA games under his belt.

PATROLING THE SIDELINES
• Babson is led by eighth-year head coach Rocky Batty, who has registered an 85-39 record (.685), including a 35-8 mark in NEWMAC games.
• Batty and his staff, fifth-year assistant Devin Newell and first-year assistant KyleLaforge, were named NEWMAC Coaching Staff of the Year this spring for the third time in four years.
• Batty and his staff have led the Beavers to four NEWMAC regular season titles, five tournament championships and five NCAA tournament appearances. 

FOR FROM BABSON NAMED TO USA LACROSSE ALL-AMERICA TEAM
• The post-season honors continued on Thursday as four members of the Babson program were named to the USA Lacrosse All-America Team.
•Burns was named to the third team and Allen, Ambrosh and Almquist received honorable mention.
• It was the first All-American recognition for all four Babson athletes.

SMITH, ALMQUIST, COACHES RECEIVE MAJOR AWARDS AS 10 BEAVERS NAMED ALL-NEWMAC
• Smith was named Athlete of the Year, Almquist was tabbed Defensive Player of the Year, and Rocky Batty and his assistants were named Coaching Staff of the Year when the NEWMAC announced its postseason awards a week ago. 
• Smith and Almquist were joined on the All-Conference First Team by Allen, Burns, Dorr, Ambrosh, St Onge, and Bruno Batty, while McAleavey and Rooney were Second Team honorees.
• It was the third All-Conference selections for Smith and Rooney and the others were recognized for the first time in their respective careers.

RANKED OPPONENTS
• Friday's game is the seventh on the Babson schedule this season against teams with national rankings.
• The Beavers are 4-2 so far with victories over No. 4/5 RIT, No. 17/14 Amherst, No. 18/16 Middlebury, and No. 20 St. Lawrence and losses to No. 2 Bowdoin and No. 1 Tufts.
• Babson is 6-5 against nationally-ranked foes going back to last spring with all four losses to top-10 teams, and 9-9 against ranked teams since 2024.

GRADUATE ASSISTANCE
• Babson is bolstered by the play of five graduate students on the roster.
• McAleavey (31-4-35) has started all 20 games, Allen (42-35-67) has started 18 of his 19 games, and Burns (194-259 FO) has appeared in 17 games.
• Dorr has started 13 of his 18 games played, and Hugh Curran has seen action in 10 games with one start.

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 14 of his 20 games.
• The Babson sophomore is ranked ninth in Division III in save percentage (.613) and 13th in goals against average (8.31).
• Almquist owns the single-season program record with 18 wins this season in goal, and his 244 saves is second on the program's single-season saves list.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
• Smith (79-106-185) became the third player in program history to record 100 assists and is in sixth place on the Babson career scoring list with 180 points.
• Rooney has moved up to 11th on the program's career goal scoring list with 95 goals, and is also 12th on the career points list with 146.
• Tyee Ambrosh has moved into a tie with Sammy Kalishman (2011-14) for 14th place all-time with 43 caused turnovers.
• Burns has produced 194 face-off wins this year, which ranks fourth on the Babson single-season face-off wins list, and his 124 ground balls are third-most in a season in program history.

BEAVER BITES
• Babson is 5-1 this year, 8-3 since last season, and 16-5 going back to 2023 in games that start after 6 p.m.
• The Green and White are ranked 17th in Division III in scoring defense, allowing 8.1 goals per game.
• Going back to 2023, the Beavers are 12-3 in the month of May. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Green and White have won 32 in a row since the start of last year when scoring at least 10 goals.
• The Beavers are 13-1 this season and 25-3 going back to last spring when holding a lead at halftime.
• Since the start of the 2024 campaign, Babson is 39-4 when winning at least 50 percent of its face-offs. 

UP NEXT
• The winner of Friday's game will take on No. 2 Bowdoin or Hope in Saturday's national semifinal game at 7 p.m.