BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior
Alexander Yablonovskiy (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) scored the go-ahead goal in the 80th minute to help Babson College defeat visiting Gordon College, 2-1, in non-conference men's soccer action on Tuesday afternoon at Hartwell-Rogers Field.
Babson, which extended unbeaten streak in season openers to 10, starts the year at 1-0, while Gordon is 0-1.
Sophomore
Connor Hanrahan (Naperville, Ill.) provided a first-half goal, while graduate student
Drew Stephans (Newton, Mass.), senior
Will Lloyd (Lexington, Mass.) and junior
Christian Gardner (Miami, Fla.) all finished with an assist for the Beavers. Graduate student goalkeeper
Will Devall (Shoreham, N.Y.) made four saves in his Babson debut.
Sophomore Andrew Lazich (Middletown, Conn.) had a goal and classmate Riley Calemmo (Pocono Mountain, Pa.) stopped three shots in the loss for the Fighting Scots.
Lazich was denied on a breakaway by Devall in the 17th minute before opening the scoring in the 26th minute. After Gordon forced a turnover in the midfield, Lazich gained control of the ball and split a pair of Babson defenders before pushing the ball around the sliding Devall before touching it home for his third career goal.
The Beavers needed just over 10 minutes to pull even thank to Hanarhan's fifth career marker in the 36th minute. Stephans received Lloyd's pass from the left wing and slipped the ball across the box for Hanrahan, who took a touch before finishing inside the left post.
Calemmo made a sprawling save to deny Babson senior
McKenzy Pierre's (West Orange, N.J.) penalty kick in the 49th minute and Devall was called upon to make a pair of stops over the first 15 minutes of the second half to keep the game tied before Yablonovskiy put the Green and White ahead for good with just over 10 minutes to play. Following a failed clearance by the Fighting Scots, Gardner hit a perfect cross from the right flank and Yablonovskiy buried a powerful header from just outside the six-yard box for his 21st career goal.
The Beavers finished with a 17-7 edge in shots and a 15-4 advantage in corner kicks in the victory.
Babson returns to action on Saturday when it faces Keene State at 1 p.m. in the opening game of the Keene State Kickoff Classic, while Gordon heads to the west coast for a matchup with Cal Lutheran on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 17-3-1 all-time against Gordon in a series that dates all the way back to 1961.
• Babson is now 8-0-2 to start the season going back to 2016.
• The Green and White is unbeaten in 21 consecutive matches when scoring at least two goals dating back to the start of the 2024 campaign.
• Tuesday's victory marked just the second time since the start of the 2024 season that the Beavers have come out victorious after conceding the first goal.
