No. 25 Babson Clinches NEWMAC Regular Season Title As Anderson Ties Goals Record
BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior forward Eric Anderson (Scituate, Mass.) tied Tim Winn '08 for the most goals in program history with the 56th tally of his career and Babson College scored four second half goals, clinching its fifth consecutive New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season title with a 4-0 victory of the Coast Guard Academy on Saturday afternoon at Hartwell-Rogers Field.
With the win, the Beavers clinched the top seed in the upcoming NEWMAC Tournament and will host the semifinals and championship next Saturday and Sunday, November 3-4 in Babson Park. Babson moved to 13-3-2 overall with its second straight win and finished at 5-0-1 in the NEWMAC, pushing its conference unbeaten streak to 38 games. Coast Guard dropped to 11-5-1 overall and 4-1-1 in conference play.
Anderson, who become the program's all-time leading scorer with two goals and an assist in the Beavers' win over Wheaton two Saturday's ago tied Winn with a penalty kick 62nd minute and now has 56 goals, 34 assists, and 146 points in his illustrious career.
After a quiet opening 20 minutes of play both teams had quality scoring opportunities in the latter portion of the first half. Babson's Tyler Carlos (Prospect, Conn.) hit a blast from just outside the penalty box that Coast Guard sophomore goalkeeper Richie Burns (Long Beach, Calif.) saved at the right post in the 23rd minute before junior back Bryan Rust (Granby, Conn.) missed just wide on a header less than a minute later.
Following a foul along the left sideline Bears' sophomore Conor Regan (Raleigh, N.C.) got a head on the free kick of classmate Jonathan Ray (Huntsville, Ala.), but his scoring attempt was denied as Babson junior goalkeeper Jackson Klein (Maplewood, N.J.) made a diving save at the right post in the 30th minute. Just moments later Coast Guard junior Kyle Grell (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) collected a loose ball at the penalty spot but missed high with his volley as the game remained scoreless after 45 minutes.
It didn't take long for Babson to gain control after intermission as senior forward Ayo Iwuagwu (Lagos, Nigeria) scored his sixth goal of the season just 39 seconds into the second half to give the Beavers a 1-0 advantage. Iwuagwu took a pass from Anderson and made a move to create space at the top of the box before burying a low shot inside the right post and beating Burns.
Anderson nearly got on the board just over a minute later but his header from inside six yards off a pass from sophomore Justin Laurenzo (Park Ridge, N.J.) ricocheted off the cross bar and out of harm's way at the 46:49 mark. Just four minutes later though, the Beavers would go up 2-0 as Laurenzo settled a free kick from senior Salo Guindi (Mexico City, Mexico) at the penalty spot and knocked home a bouncing ball for his fifth goal of the season.
Coast Guard had its best opportunity to get on the board in the 56th minute following a corner kick as senior Greg Kennerley (Weymouth, Mass.) redirected a ball from 15 yards out that beat Klein but was saved off the goal line by Babson sophomore back David Abers (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). Abers would make a second goal-saving block in the 81st minute, denying a shot from the Bears' Juan Fitzpatrick (Corpus Christi, Texas).
Just five minutes after Abers' heroics, Anderson knocked home his penalty kick following a Coast Guard handball in the box, and sophomore Kevin Israel (Lafayette Hill, Pa.) capped the scoring with his fourth goal of the season at 72:31. Senior Jimmy Stento (Needham, Mass.) collected a long ball from Abers near the end line and played a pass back to Israel who tucked his shot inside the right post for a 4-0 bulge.
Klein made four saves and was relieved by first-year Stephen Donato (Morganville, N.J.) who made one stop over the final 15 minutes for Babson, who has now recorded three consecutive shutouts. Burns made five saves for Coast Guard.
The Bears held a slim 16-15 advantage in shots while both teams took four corner kicks.
As the top seed in the NEWMAC Tournament, Babson will host the winner of fourth-seeded Wheaton and fifth-seeded MIT at 10:30am in Saturday's first semifinal game, while second-seeded Coast Guard will face third-seeded Springfield College, the defending NEWMAC champions, at the afternoon's second semifinal at 1:30pm.
