Bower's OT goal send Beavers to NCAA Tournament for Second Time in Three years

BABSON PARK, Mass.— Junior Topher Bower (Chicago, Ill.) converted a feed from first-year Bennett Smith (Lake Oswego, Ore.) a minute and five seconds into overtime to give Babson College the NNEWMAC men's lacrosse championship with a thrilling 15-14 victory over MIT in the tournament final Saturday afternoon at MacDowell Field.

With their fourth straight win, the Beavers improved to 12-4 overall and earned their second conference tournament title in three years. Defending champion MIT saw its season come to a close at 12-6.

Senior Matt Stucchi (Rexford, N.Y.) matched his career high with seven points on two goals and five assists to earn Most Outstanding Player honors. Graduate student Will Spangenberg (Dover, Mass.) finished with three goals and two assists, senior Chi Chi Price (Hingham, Mass.) score four times and Bower's game-winner was his third goal. Graduate student Ryan Kenney (Hingham, Mass.) chipped in with two goals, Smith added a goal and two assists, and senior Will Parducci (Manhattan Beach, Calif) made 12 saves in goal in the win.

Graduate student Ryan Gebhardt (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) led all scorers with seven goals for the Engineers, while junior Heath Nilsen (Carlsbad, Calif.) tallied three goals and an assist and first-year Zach Bleil (New Canaan, Conn.) contributed a pair of goals. Sophomore Nick Stiles (New Canaan, Conn.) and first-year Garrett Campagna (Lancaster, Pa.) scored once each, sophomore Matthew Sardis (Bernardsville, N.J.) won 19-of-32 face-offs and grabbed a game-high 10 ground balls, and senior Devin McCabe (New Castle, N.H.) made 16 saves in goal in the loss.

In a game that featured five lead changes and six tie scores, including five in the second half, MIT took an early lead with two goals in the first two minutes. Babson came alive with five unanswered goals in a span of 13 minutes, including two by Spangenberg, to take its largest lead of the day, 5-2. The teams traded several goals in the final 12 minutes of the second quarter and the Green and White took an 8-6 lead into the intermission.

MIT started the third frame with three consecutive goals, including two from Gebhardt, to regain the lead at 9-8 before Price tied it for Babson midway through the frame, and Nilsen put one in with 3:17 remaining in the third to give the Engineers a slim 10-9 margin heading into the final frame.

The Beavers scored three times to start the final quarter, including back-to-back man-up goals by Stucchi and Price that gave the hosts a 12-10 advantage with 10:43 to play. Gebhardt and Stucchi exchanged goals before the Engineers rattled off three straight goals regain the lead, 14-13, with 3:10 remaining. Price fired in his fourth goal with 2:32 on the clock to tie it again and force the extra session.

McCabe made a save on Bower early in the overtime after Babson had won the opening face-off, but the Engineers turned over the ensuing clear attempt, which led to Bower's game-winning tally.

Babson had a 58-44 advantage in shots while MIT won the ground ball battle 43-31 and captured 19-of-33 face-offs. The Green and White were good on 17-of-21 clears and MIT was 18-of-25. The visitors converted just 1-of-2 man-up opportunities while the hosts scored four times on three MIT penalties.

The Beavers will learn their NCAA Tournament opponent, time and location on the selection shot on NCAA.com Sunday at 9 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• Babson has won 11 of the last 14 games against MIT and is now 32-16 all-time against the Engineers in a series that dates back to 1978.
• Four of the five post-season contests between the two schools have been decided by just one or two goals.
• The last three victories for the Beavers, including the regular season finale and two tournament games, have come by identical 15-14 scores.
• The NEWMAC regular season champion and top seeded team captured the tournament title for just the fourth time in the last eight seasons, joining MIT (2022) and Springfield (2017, 2018).
• The Beavers are 4-2 this spring in games decided by two goals or less.