No. 10/11 Men's Lacrosse Meets No. 2/3 RIT in an NCAA Tournament Third Round Matchup on Saturday - Babson College (2024)

No. 10/11 Men's Lacrosse at No. 2/3 RIT
NCAA Tournament Third Round
Saturday, May 11 | 3 p.m.
Tiger Stadium | Rochester, N.Y.

WHAT TO KNOW

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 0-1 all-time against RIT.

LAST MEETING
• Clifford Gaston and TJ Hendricks both scored three times and Joe Camp and Taylor Jensen each contributed five ground balls and three caused turnovers to help RIT defeat Babson, 20-9, in the third round of the NCAA Tournament on May 14, 2023, in Rochester, N.Y.
• Luke Pilcher, Dylan Bruno and Spencer Ball all finished with two goals and Will Sterrett made 11 saves for the Tigers, who jumped out to a 6-0 lead and then closed the third quarter with three straight goals after the Green and White had pulled within four.
• Will Spangenberg M'23 finished with two goals and two assists and seniors Topher Bower and Christian Broft each scored twice for the Beavers, who got 12 saves from Will Parducci '23.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 10 USILA/No. 11 USA Lacrosse Babson (16-3) has won five straight games after rallying to defeat No. 19 Denison, 12-10, on Friday afternoon.
• Graduate studentJared Rainville(3g, 1a) tied the program's single-season points record, classmate James Turco and senior Grey Sunderland combined to win 20-of-25 face-offs and junior Alex Fascilla made 14 saves for the Beavers, who trailed 8-6 late in third quarter before going on a five-goal run to seize command of the game.
• Rainville (77-25-102) ranks fourth in Division III averaging 4.11 goals per game, seniorTopher Bower(16-41-57) and juniorBennett Smith(12-37-49) are both contributing over two assists per game, and senior Jacob Tauss has scored a career-high 32 goals to go along with eight assists for a career-best 40points.
• The duo of Turco(109 GB) and Sunderland(85 GB) have won 62.7 percent of their face-offs, seniorBrendan Maher(43 GB, 23 CT) leads the defense in caused turnovers and Fascilla has gone 12-1 as a starter and ranks 19th in Division III in goals against average (8.85) and is eighth nationally with a .621 save percentage.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
• No. 2 USILA/No. 3 USA Lacrosse RIT (18-2) bounced back from its loss in the Liberty League final by routing Hope, 23-9, in Friday's NCAA Tournament opener.
• Kaden Brunson (4g, 1a) tied for game-high honors with five points and David Charney, Ethan Harkins and Jack Budway all added three goals and one assist for the Tigers, who got 15 saves over the final three quarters from Kyle Burbank.
• Gaston (64-31-95) ranks 24th in Division III averaging 3.37 goals per game, Jake Erickson (38-48-86) is tied for 15th in the country in assists and Pilcher (52-26-78) has put up at least 50 goals in three consecutive seasons.
• Allyn French has won 56.9 percent of his face-offs (197-of-346) while collecing 112 ground balls, Michael Grace leads the defense with 83 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers, and Alex Zborowski (17-2) ranks 27th in goals against average (9.14) and 17th in Division III in save percentage (.597).

BABSON IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• The Beavers are making their third NCAA Tournament appearance in four seasons and the fourth in program history.
• Babson defeated Williams in the second round of last year's championship for the program's first NCAA Tournament win before falling to RIT in the third round.

RIT IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• The Tigers, who lost to Tufts in the national semifinals last season, are making their 14th straight NCAA Tournament appearance and the program's 25th overall.
• After reaching the national semifinals three times (2011, 2014, 2015) and the championship game twice (2013, 2017) over a seven-year stretch, RIT won its first national title in 2021 and became just the fifth school in Division III history to hoist the Walnut and Bronze in back-to-back seasons in 2022.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR
• Babson ranks third in Division III in man-up offense scoring on 54.9 percent of its chances this season and is 23-of-37 for a 62.2 percent conversion rate over the last 12 games.
• The Green and White dominated the face-off X in Friday's win with Turco winning 10-of-12 and Sunderland winning 10-of-13, while RIT has won less than 50 percent of its face-offs six times this season, including both of its losses to Rensselaer and a one-goal win over York (Pa.) back in March.
• The Beavers, who rank 22nd in Division III in scoring defense, have held 11 of their last 12 opponents to 10 goals or fewer, while RIT is just 2-2 on the year when it scores 14 goals or less.
• In four starts this season against nationally-ranked opponents, Fascilla boasts a .642 save percentage and is averaging 17.5 saves per game.

NINE BEAVERS EARN ALL-NEWMAC RECOGNITION
• For the second consecutive season, Babsonsaw nine players earn all-conference honors when the NEWMAC announced its postseason awards.
• Rainville (Player of the Year), Fascilla (Defensive Player of the Year), Bower, Maher, Turco, graduate studentChip Quinnand juniorGavin Baileywere all named to the first team, while seniorFord Carneyand the league's co-rookie of the yearSeamus Rooneygarnered second-team honors.
• Head coachRockey Battyand assistantsDevin Newell,Daniel CrottyandJack Mahony MSF '23were also tabbed as the NEWMAC's Coaching Staff of the Year.

PUTTING THEIR STAMP ON THE RECORD BOOKS
• Rainville's 77 goals are a new single-season Babson record passing the previous mark of 71 by Josh Shafer '95 back in 1995. He also needs just one point to surpass Shafer's single-season record of 102 pointsachieved 29 years ago.
• Bower's 41 helpers are the most by a Babson player since Hall of Famer Chris Grant '81 dished out a single-season record 47 assists back in 1979. He also ranks fifth all-time with 72 assists and 14th with 129 career points.
• Turco is just the fifth individual in program history to scoop up more than 100 ground balls in a season.
• Maher is tied for seventh on the program's all-time list with 54 caused turnovers.
• Sunderland, who was already the program's all-time leader entering the season, has won 622 career face-offs while collecing 397ground balls over the last four seasons.
• Rooney, who has missed the last five games due to injury, has 31 goals and 11 assists for 42 points this season, which is good for the highest total by a Babson rookie since 2010.

THE MIGHTY QUINN(S)
• Along with Maher,Chip Quinnand seniorDillon Quinnhave started all 18 games this season for a Babson defense that has allowed nine goals or fewer in 10 of the last 11 games.
• Chip Quinn(51 GB, 19 CT), who picked up his first two assists of the year in last Thursday's NEWMAC semifinal win over Wheaton, ranks second on the team in caused turnovers, whileDillon Quinnleads all Beavers' long poles with 57 ground balls and has contributed 20 forced turnovers.

STREAKING BEAVERS
• Rainville has a point in 47 consecutive games and a goal in 46straight outings going back to his time at Connecticut College.
• Bower enters Saturday's contestriding a 23-game points streak, while first-yearLuke Wangand Tauss have scored in 12 and seven consecutive games, respectively.

TOURNAMENT TESTED
• Sunderland has won 56.7 percent of his face-offs (152-of-268) while scooping up 95 ground balls in 12 career postseason games.
• Smith (3-12-15) and Tauss (13-2-15) have combined for 30points in seven postseason games over the last two seasons.
• Bower has produced 13 goals and seven assists for 20 points in nine postseason games going back to the 2022 NEWMAC semifinals.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers are 14-0 this season and 41-2 going back to the start of the 2020 season when leading at halftime.
• Babson is 12-0 this year and has won 29 of its last 30 games when scoring at least 14 goals.
• The Green and White is 11-0 this season when allowing eight goals or fewer.
• The Beavers are 15-1 when winning at least 50 percent of their face-offs.
• Babson is 14-2 this season when recording at least eight caused turnovers.
• The Green and White is 13-1 on the year when scoring a man-up goal.

UP NEXT
• The winner of Saturday's game will advance to the national quarterfinals on May 18.