No. 4 Men's Soccer vs. Bates
Saturday, September 19 | 3:30 p.m.
Hartwell-Rogers Field | Babson Park, Mass. 

SERIES HISTORY
•    Babson is 10-3-2 all-time against Bates in a series that goes back to 1964. 
•    The Beavers and Bobcats played three times between 1964-67 and then in 12 consecutive seasons from 1980-91, which saw the Green and White go 12-0-2 while not conceding a single goal. 

LAST MEETING
•    Chris Connors '93 scored the opening goal and Steve Webber '92 stopped five shots to help the Beavers defeat Bates, 4-0, back in 1991 on Hartwell-Rogers Field. 
 
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
•    Babson (4-0-1) had its four-game winning streak to begin the season snapped on Tuesday's with its 0-0 draw against Roger Williams. 
•    Graduate student Will Devall finished with five saves, first-year Adonai Samuel forced a diving save midway through the first half and senior Alexander Yablonovskiy had his volley from close range denied in the 72nd minute for the Beavers, who were shut out for the first time in 11 matches going back to October 28 of last year.
•    Sophomore Connor Hanrahan (3-0-6) produced a goal in each of the first three games, senior McKenzy Pierre (2-1-5) has a point in three of the last four outings, Yablonovskiy (1-2-4) is second on the team in assists, and senior Will Lloyd and junior Christian Gardner have each contributed a goal and an assist this fall. 
•    Devall (3-0-1), who posted his first clean sheet of the season on Tuesday, owns a 0.75 goals against average and a .850 save percentage in four starts on the year. 

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
•    Bates (2-1-1) in unbeaten in three straight games following a season-opening loss to then-No. 10 Williams after defeating Husson, 5-2, on Tuesday night. 
•    Marc Chedid tied the game in the 35th minute, Finn Coburn scored the go-ahead goal seven minutes into the second half and Danny Burke assisted on a pair of second-half goals for the Bobcats, who took a 4-2 lead on Bora Ceranoglu's marker in the 56th minute and tacked on a late penalty kick by Antonio Mesa in the 73rd minute. 
•    Coburn (2-1-5) and Ceranoglu (2-0-4) have each provided a game-winning goal, Burke (1-2-4) and Andrew Jean Baptiste (0-2-2) are tied for the team lead in assists, and Alex Hensch is one of six players to score at least one goal on the season. 
•    George Nassar (1-1-1) has a 1.43 goals against average, a .615 save percentage and two shutouts in three starts, while Isaac Kolaczkowski made one second-half save to pick up the win in his collegiate debut on Tuesday against Husson. 

RISING IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
•    After receiving votes and finishing just outside the top 25 of the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll back in early August, Babson entered the first poll of the 2026 campaign at No. 4 on Tuesday thanks to its 4-0 start. 
•    The ranking is the highest for the Beavers going back to 1996 after they finished at No. 5 in the final 2024 ranking and the 2025 preseason poll. 

STRIKING LATE
•    Over their first five matches, the Beavers have already scored four times in the 75th minute or later, and all six of their second-half goals have come in the 63rd minute or later. 
•    Yablonovskiy scored the go-ahead goal in the 80th minute in Babson's season-opening win over Gordon on September 1 and Lloyd, Hanrahan and Garder all scored over the final 16 minutes to overcome a late two-goal deficit back on September 6 against Ramapo. 

BEAVER BITES
•    Head coach Jon Anderson '75, who is in his 41st season at Babson, ranks second among active coaches and 11th in Division history with 486 wins. He also recorded the 99th draw of his career on Tuesday against Roger Williams, which ranks third all-time in NCAA history. 
•    Graduate student Drew Stephens leads the Green and White with three assists.
•    Yablonovskiy has at least one point in seven of his last nine games dating back to last November's NEWMAC Tournament, while Hanrahan has produced a goal in four of his last seven outings going back to the first round of last year's NCAA Tournament.
•    Graduate transfer Jackson Price from Furman and seniors Ted Rosenfeld and Huey Miller all made their season debuts in Tuesday's draw with Roger Williams. The appearance for Rosenfeld came 366 days after suffering a season-ending knee injury last season. 

GETTING TO KNOW THE NESCAC
•    Saturday's game is the first of three Babson will play over the next two and a half weeks. 
•    In addition to taking on Bates for the first time in 35 years, the Beavers travel to No. 18 Tufts, the defending Division III national champions, on September 27 and will host Amherst on October 7. 
•    Going back to the start of the 2024 campaign, the Green and White is 2-4-4 in 10 games against the NESCAC. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    The Beavers are 4-0 this season and 23-0-1 since the start of the 2024 season when scoring at least two goals.
•    Babson is 64-2-6 dating back to 2021 when scoring the opening goal of the match. 
•    The Green and White is outscoring its opponents 6-3 in the second half this season.
•    The Beavers are 8-3-2 at home over 13 matches going back to the start of last year. 

UP NEXT
•    Babson is off until next Saturday when it welcomes Springfield to Hartwell-Rogers Field for its NEWMAC opener at 1 p.m.