Beaver Tales No. 4: The Top 10 Babson Athletics Stories of 2011
Welcome to this special New Year’s edition of Beaver Tales! For the second year in a row, we take a look back at the top stories of the previous 12 months and celebrate the accomplishments of our incredibly successful student-athletes. So without further ado, in no particular order, here are the stories that made 2011 another amazing year for Babson College Athletics:
Ice Hockey Makes Run at ECAC East Title
There’s something about late February and early
March that brings out the best in Babson hockey. Without question,
the Beavers were struggling mightily heading into the 2011 ECAC
East Tournament. After an impressive 4-4 tie at archrival Norwich
on January 29th, Babson went 0-5-1 over its final six games of the
regular season and had to settle for the fifth seed in the
conference tourney. Over the course of the next two weeks, the
Green and White enthralled the Beaver faithful with a spectacular
turnaround, earning a 5-0 win over fourth-seeded Skidmore in the
quarterfinal round and then knocking off second-seeded Castleton
State, 4-3, in the semis to earn their third straight trip to the
ECAC East Finals. Among the many highlights of this run was the
awesome play of then-sophomore goalie Zeke Testa, who made 28 saves
in the shutout victory over Skidmore and 23 more stops in the
victory over Castleton. Although the Beavers would eventually fall
to Norwich in an overtime thriller, 3-2, in a championship game for
the ages, Testa was magnificent again, making 43 saves on 46 shots
to keep his team alive through the first 77 minutes of play. The
goalie’s standout performance earned his a spot on the
All-Tournament Team alongside fellow Beavers Mike Hoban and Matt
O’Neill.
Men’s Lax Advances to Pilgrim League Championship
Game
Although the Babson men’s lacrosse program boasts an
impressive string of 11 consecutive Pilgrim League Tournament
appearances, it had been a full decade since the Beavers had won a
conference playoff game entering the 2011 season. That all changed
this past spring, as Babson went 4-1 in league play to earn the
second seed in the conference tourney and hosted Wheaton College on
May 4. In an overpowering performance, the Green and White saw 13
different players score goals as they blasted the Lyons, 18-9, for
the team’s first conference postseason triumph and its first
trip to the league championship game since 2001. Although the
Beavers would eventually fall to league power Springfield in the
finals, Babson still finished the year at 10-8 – marking the
12th time in program history that the team recorded double-digit
wins and the second year in a row of accomplishing the feat since
Brendan Gorman took over as head coach in 2010. Gorman was named
Pilgrim League Co-Coach of the Year for his efforts, while star
defenseman Ryan Dawidjan was named as Babson’s second
straight conference Rookie of the Year. In addition, the team
scored a total of 207 goals – the second most in a single
season in team history – while Alex Patinkin’s 67 total
points ranked third among the program’s single-season points
leaders.
Skiing Earns Its Fourth Straight Bid To Nationals
It was another banner year for the men’s alpine ski
team, which featured a star-studded lineup that was headed by
senior captains Keith Vella and Max Winthrop. After once again
finishing fourth in the MacConnell Division standings and earning a
trip to the ECSC Regional Championships, the Beavers rode an
All-East performance by Mark Grundy to take fourth place out of 13
schools. As a result, Babson secured its fourth consecutive bid to
the USCSA National Championships – extending the longest run
of national qualifications in program history. Unfortunately,
treacherous conditions at Sunvalley, Idaho led to a massive number
of falls and resulted in what was effectively a free-for-all at
Nationals, where the Beavers finished 12th overall. Despite not
being able to improve upon its results from the previous three
trips, Babson did receive a tremendous effort from Vella, who
capped off his outstanding career by earning his first-ever
All-America Honorable Mention honor thanks to a 14th-place
performance in the Giant Slalom competition.
Golf Reclaims NECC Title Behind Young, Tryhane
When Babson became an associate member of the New England
Collegiate Conference (NECC) in the sport of golf back in 2009, the
Beavers were immediately considered the odds-on favorite to win the
league title. After all, the program had utterly dominated play in
its previous two conferences, winning seven consecutive
championships between the CAC (now defunct) and the NEWMAC (which
stopped sponsoring golf in 2004). They backed up the predictions by
claiming their first NECC crown that fall, but the Beavers were
then stunned when Elms edged them out by two strokes at the 2010
Championships. As a result, the Beavers were anxious to regain
their spot atop the league when they hosted the 2011 NECC
Tournament at DW Field Golf Course in Brockton this past fall.
Over the course of the two-day event, Babson did exactly that. After the first 18 holes, the Green and White held a commanding nine-stroke lead, firing a season-low team score of 289 in the opening round – just nine over par among four scoring golfers. Although the team would have a tougher go of it on day two, its top two opponents (Elms and Springfield) struggled as well, resulting in Babson winning the 2011 NECC Championship by 16 strokes.
In addition to regaining the conference title, the Beavers enjoyed two other significant aspects of the event. The first was the battle for NECC Golfer of the Year, which was awarded to the tournament’s first-place finisher. After 36 holes, two duffers stood in a tie and were forced to go to extra holes to determine the winner, and BOTH were from Babson. Young followed up his tournament-low first round of 69 with a 75 in round two, while junior teammate Wesley Tryhane carded rounds of 71 and 73 as each finished with a two-day score of 144. After both men parred the first playoff hole, Young birdied the second to claim medalist honors and his second straight NECC Golfer of the Year award.
The final highlight of the event was even more significant than the race for medalist status. For the first time in its history, the NECC Tournament awarded an automatic qualification to the NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championships this past fall. As a result, Babson not only secured its ninth league title but also earned its eighth trip to Nationals. The Beavers will head to the Grandover Resort in Greensboro, North Carolina for the NCAA Championships this coming May.
Field Hockey Trio Steals the Show Against the
Nation’s Top Scorer
There are so many amazing aspects to this story that
it’s difficult to fully wrap your mind around all of them. On
October 4, Clark University’s field hockey team came to
MacDowell Field to take on Babson in what seemed on the surface to
be just another NEWMAC regular season matchup. However, the Cougars
brought with them the nation’s top scorer – junior Mel
Melkonian – who was tops among all Division III players with
20 goals and 43 points at the time. Not only was Melkonian riding
an unbelievable streak of five consecutive hat tricks coming into
the game, but she had completely overshadowed Babson’s own
offensive star – sophomore Morgan Lockwood – through
the first half of the season.
What took place under the lights that evening was a surreal contest that saw Babson utterly dominate their opponent. In particular, three individuals had perhaps their best games of the season, with all three playing pivotal roles in the Beavers’ victory. The first, and perhaps the most obvious, was Lockwood. It didn’t seem possible that the sophomore forward could take her game to a higher level after posting a 26-goal, 59-point rookie season and then tacking on 13 goals and nine assists for 35 points through the team’s first 11 games of 2011. However, Lockwood put on a show that night, scoring five goals to power her team to a 6-1 rout. It was her second career five-goal effort – tying her own program record set against WPI in 2010 – and it made her just the sixth player in Babson field hockey history to surpass the 100 career point mark.
While Lockwood was providing the offense, the task of dealing with Melkonian went to senior midfielder Kim Calhoun. A veteran player who had started nine of her 42 games played in her first three seasons, Calhoun was making her seventh start of the season and had one simple directive from head coach Julie Ryan: stay next to Melkonian no matter where she went on the field. She did exactly that, face-guarding the Cougars’ star for the next 70 minutes. Although Melkonian did manage to get some clean looks on net during the contest, there was no question that Calhoun’s defensive efforts had a gigantic impact on the game. Overall, the Beavers’ veteran midfielder held the nation’s leading scorer to just seven total shots – three below her 10-shots-per-game average coming into that contest.
When Melkonian did manage to escape her temporary shadow, she was thwarted again by senior goalie Jess Pashos. Another Babson veteran who would go on to set the program’s all-time record for goalkeeper victories, Pashos made only seven saves in the contest, but six of those came on Melkonian shots. Among the most impressive were a charging save on a clean breakaway less than two minutes into the game, a tremendous stop on a penalty corner late in the first half, and a sliding denial on another breakaway 15 minutes into the second. Pashos later capped off the win with her best stop of the night, as she made a diving highlight-reel save to her right to turn away a Melkonian penalty stroke with less than four minutes remaining.
David Ahern’s Week to Remember
Fans of Beaver Tales should not find it surprising that
baseball star David Ahern ’11 is among the top 10 stories of
the year. Our second edition featured a lengthy piece on his
exploits – not only in 2011 but throughout his brilliant
career. For that reason, I won’t go into too much detail,
but you can read our previous column by clicking here.
What does bear repeating is that David’s performance in the last week of April remains one of the truly epic stretches in Babson baseball history. It began on April 22 in a must-win elimination game against Coast Guard in the NEWMAC Tournament. After his team suffered a devastating loss to MIT in the opening game, David did it all against the Bears as he led his team to an amazing 2-1 victory. At the plate, he went 3-for-4 – including the game-winning double in the bottom of the 10th inning – while on the mound, tied his own program record by pitching all 10 innings and he set a new career mark with 14 strikeouts. Five days later, he tied yet another Babson baseball record when he blasted three home runs in a 16-9 loss to non-conference foe USM. Although the Beavers’ season would eventually come to a close with their second NEWMAC Tournament loss to MIT three days after that, David capped off his career as one would expect, going 3-for-5 with a double in the loss.
Women’s Lacrosse Rebounds From Poor Start to Win
Fifth Straight NEWMAC Crown
After the first week of April, all signs seemed to point
to the end of the Babson women’s lacrosse team’s
fabulous run as one of the premier squads in the region and the
country. It was a truly amazing stretch, going 61-13 over a
four-year span, winning four straight NEWMAC Championships and
advancing to the NCAA Tournament Round of 16 in each season.
However, with the graduation of the program’s top two leading
scorers Kaitlyn Pettengill and Anna Collins in 2010, the Beavers
were entering the season without a returning All-American for the
first time since 2007. As one would expect in such circumstances,
the team got off to a rough 3-7 start, including a triple-overtime
defeat to Springfield on April 2 – the team’s first
NEWMAC loss since 2006. Surely the team’s fantastic run had
finally come to an end…
Not so fast. Over the next month, the Beavers resurrected their
campaign by winning five straight games to close out the regular
season and then crushing MIT, 16-3, in the NEWMAC semifinals. That
set up a Championship Game rematch with host Springfield, the team
that had snapped their 32-game league winning streak only a month
earlier. Adding to the drama down the stretch was the fact that
head coach Kully Reardon announced that she would be stepping down
immediately after the season – a development that inspired
her team to even greater heights.
What took place on Stagg Field that Sunday afternoon seemed unthinkable earlier in the year. The frustrated 3-7 Beavers were gone, and in their place stood a battle-tested squad that completely dominated their rivals on their own turf. Babson scored six straight goals to begin the game, led 10-2 at halftime, and never saw their lead slip to less than seven the rest of the way as they cruised to a 19-7 victory and their fifth consecutive conference championship. The Green and White would eventually fall to Bowdoin in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament, but their revival over the final month of the season served as a perfect send-off for their departing coach.
Women’s Basketball Does It Again
After going 31-2 over the course of the 2010 calendar
year, it’s hard to imagine the women’s basketball team
being even better in 2011. In the end, this year’s record
wasn’t quite as good (28-3), but you’d be hard-pressed
to find many flaws along the way.
Let’s pick up where we left off on December 31, 2010… The Beavers had made their first-ever run to the Elite 8 the previous season and were 10-0 heading into the new year. At the time, it looked like most of the team’s top regular season opponents had already been beaten. If the team could sweep its NEWMAC schedule for the second year in a row, and could win its third straight conference tournament title, might the Beavers head into the NCAA Tournament with an undefeated record?
Everything seemed to be going as planned until mid February, when then-sophomore Sarah Collins suffered a broken hand and was lost for the final two games of the regular season. Collins joined juniors Nicki Wurdeman and Kathleen King in comprising what is quite possibly the best front court trio in all of Division III women’s basketball, and no one knew what kind of impact the loss of one of the Beavers’ “Big Three” would have. Fortunately, Babson also had one of the top reserve forwards you could ask for in Damisi Adewumi ’11, and with the veteran back-up inserted into the starting lineup, the team didn’t miss a beat. The Green and White cruised past their final two regular season opponents, topped Springfield in the conference semifinals, and finally downed a hungry but young Smith squad in the league championship to earn their third straight NEWMAC title and enter the NCAA Tournament with a perfect 27-0 record.
Unfortunately, the Beavers’ strength of schedule cost them the opportunity to play a home game in the national tourney, despite the fact that they were one of only a handful of unbeaten teams in the entire country. As a result, they were shipped to Geneseo, New York, where they were forced to play unknown opponents Medaille and SUNY Geneseo – still without Collins. Once there, Babson sent a clear message to the national committee, decimating Medaille by 30 points in the First Round and then ousting the host Knights, 65-53, in the Second Round.
That set up a true statement game in the Round of 16, which was to be held at Amherst College – the site of Babson’s previous two NCAA Tournament losses. Facing the Beavers would be Bowdoin College – one of the New England schools that was picked by the NCAA committee to host First and Second Round games over Babson. Not only were the Green and White attempting to prove themselves against a higher-ranked team in the region, they were also attempting to get back to the Elite 8 for the second straight season and, hopefully, move beyond that to the National Semifinals.
The game against Bowdoin would prove to be one of the great
milestones of both the season and the history of the program for
the Beavers. It was a fantastic game between two outstanding teams,
and it featured an unlikely hero: Sarah Collins – back from
injury and sporting a partial cast on her right (shooting) hand.
Although far from 100 percent and certainly unable to do much
offensively, Collins could at least be counted on as an
intimidating defensive presence, particularly as a shot blocker.
What no one expected was that she would prove to be a pivotal
factor in the game at the offensive end.
Babson’s season nearly ended in regulation, as Bowdoin surged to a six-point lead with 2:49 left in the second half. Only two more shots would be made over the remainder of the period, but fortunately both were Beavers three-pointers. The first came when rookie Caitlin O’Connell drained a trifecta to make it a three-point game with 2:15 left, and the second came when All-American Nicki Wurdeman tied the contest with a clutch long ball with 19 seconds left on the clock.
Points continued to come at a premium in the overtime session, as neither team scored for the first 2:39. Babson finally broke through with 2:21 remaining, when Collins drew a foul and went to the line. Shooting with her left hand, she swished the first free throw attempt and banked in the second, giving her team a 58-56 lead. Bowdoin would later tie it with two free throws with a little more than a minute left, but King sank a pair from the line 10 seconds later and Wurdeman tacked on another with 1.1 to go as the Beavers improved to 30-0 with a spectacular 61-58 overtime victory. King finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds in the win, Wurdeman added 16 points and nine boards, and Collins added 10 points and nine rebounds while shooting 4-for-5 from the field and 2-for-2 from the line.
The win not only sent the Beavers to the National Quarterfinals (Elite 8) for the second year in a row, but it also gave them a unique distinction. With the only other undefeated women’s team in the country losing that night, Babson spent the next 24 hours as the last remaining unbeaten team in all of women’s college basketball – Division I, II, or III. Unfortunately, the squad’s dream season would end the following day, as the Green and White fell to eventual National Champion Amherst for the third year in a row. That ended the Beavers’ season at 30-1, while the team was ranked eighth in the nation in the final D3hoops.com poll.
This winter, Babson has picked up where it left off a year ago. Now a two-time All-American, Wurdeman has once again joined All-New England classmate King and fellow 2011 Preseason All-American Collins in leading the Beavers to a tremendous start. Although the team suffered a lopsided loss to Williams College (not ranked at the time but now 13th in the country) to end its incredible 42-game regular season win streak dating back to January 4, 2010, and they dropped their final game of the calendar year at regional power Southern Maine, the Beavers are off to an impressive 8-2 start and are ranked 16th in the country.
Men’s Soccer Advances To Round of 16, Makes
History With Three All-Americans
For a program that has won three National Championships,
made 23 NCAA Tournament appearances, claimed 10 conference titles,
and produced 30 All-Americans, it’s not easy to do something
that hasn’t already been done. Therefore, it was a remarkable
journey this past fall when the Babson men’s soccer team not
only made history with a record three All-Americans, but advanced
to the NCAA Round of 16 in a way that no one could ever have
imagined.
To start, Babson boasted what was possibly its deepest and most talented lineup in years this fall. The team featured a star-studded senior class, including team captains Max Walker and Clint Mason, as well as standout goalie Peter Crowley. In addition, junior Eric Anderson was back after earning First Team All-America honors as a sophomore, and a host of other talented players joined him to gave the Beavers plenty of reasons to be optimistic heading into the season.
Unfortunately, things didn’t start out very smoothly, with Babson losing its first two games of the season. Little did anyone know it at the time, but after the Beavers’ second loss – a 1-0 overtime decision to Hobart on September 3 – they would not taste defeat again for more than two and a half months.
The rest of the regular season was practically picture perfect for the Green and White, which went 12-0-2 over its next 14 games to secure its fourth straight regular season NEWMAC title and earn the right to host the conference tournament. However, following a 2-1 win over MIT in the semifinals, the Beavers suffered what certainly felt like a crushing loss to Springfield in the Championship Game, despite the contest officially going down as a 1-1 double-overtime tie. After the game went to penalty kicks to decide the league championship, the Pride edged Babson, 4-3, in PKs to claim the league’s automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament.
Despite the disappointment of missing out on its fourth straight league title, the Beavers got a boost the following day when they were awarded an at-large bid to the national tourney. Even better, Babson was selected to host its First and Second Round games, setting the stage for a weekend to remember.
The First Round saw the Beavers blow out visiting Lesley College by a score of 5-1, thanks to two goals apiece from Anderson and junior Ayo Iwuagwu. The following day then felt like déjà vu, as Babson and fellow regional power Trinity College finished regulation and the two overtime periods in a 1-1 tie. For the second time in a week, the Beavers’ fate came down to penalty kicks.
This time, however, veteran head coach Jon Anderson had a trick up his sleeve. In an unbelievable roll of the dice, he sent senior midfielder Salomon Guindi onto the field… in a goalie’s jersey. For the first time in his collegiate career, Guindi would be stopping PKs instead of taking them. To the delight of a capacity crowd at Hartwell-Rogers Field, Guindi came through as Babson claimed a 3-0 penalty kick victory and moved on to the Round of 16 for the second straight season (for read more about Guindi’s heroics both on the field and in net, check out the upcoming edition of the Babson Alumni Magazine). In addition, the tie extended the team’s unbeaten streak to 20 games (16-0-4) – the second longest run in team history and the longest active streak in all of Division III at the time.
Six days later, the Beavers’ season would come to an unfortunate end when they fell to Camden-Rutgers, 1-0, in the Sectional Semifinals at St. Lawrence University on November 19. Although they didn’t play another game after that, the team did manage to make history a month later when the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) announced its All-America selections. For the first time in the 57-year history of the vaunted men’s soccer program, Babson saw three of its players earn national honors. Already a two-time NEWMAC Player of the Year, Eric Anderson was once again named to the All-America First Team, while Crowley and Walker were each selected to the All-America Third Team. It was a fitting end to another fabulous season for one of the College’s most storied programs.
Colleen Kelly ’11 Named Among 30 Semifinalists for NCAA
Woman of the Year
She may not have played a single game for Babson in 2011,
but what Colleen Kelly ’11 achieved went well beyond any
single accomplishment on the field of play. To start, the field
hockey program’s fourth all-time leading scorer and 2010
First Team All-America selection became the first Babson athlete in
history to win the NEWMAC’s nomination for NCAA Woman of the
Year in mid-June. Later that summer, she was named one of 30
semifinalists for the prestigious award, which annually recognizes
the country’s top female student-athletes from all three
divisions for their athletic achievements, academic excellence,
community service, and leadership. For Colleen to be chosen as one
of the nation’s top 142 conference nominees was an incredible
feat. For her to be among the top 30 overall and top 10 in Division
III was simply awe-inspiring.
To read more details about Colleen’s Woman of the Year credentials, check out the stories on our website (click here for our June 13 article and here for our August 24 story), as well as yesterday ‘s exclusive release on the NEWMAC site as part of the conference’s annual Year in Review segment.
With her Top 30 status, Colleen was also invited to attend the annual NCAA Woman of the Year celebration in Indianapolis on October 16, where she was joined by head coach Julie Ryan. The event proved to be a fitting tribute to one of the truly outstanding athletes, students, and people that Babson has ever produced. Without question, the Babson Athletics Department could not be more proud of Colleen, as she remains one of finest ambassadors of the College that we could ever ask for.
Looking Ahead To 2012
As you can see, it was quite a year for Babson Athletics in 2011,
but there’s already plenty in store for the coming 12 months.
Here are just a few of the stories to look for as we march forward
into 2012…
Frozen Fenway
The Babson ice hockey team will take on Norwich University in the
one of the most spectacular and unique venues possible on January
13, as the two rivals meet at historic Fenway Park as part of Sun
Life Frozen Fenway 2012. Tickets are still available at http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/bos/ticketing/frozenfenway.jsp
for this historic 3:30 p.m. showdown.
Hoops, Lax Look To Extend Championship Runs
As we’ve already mentioned, the women’s basketball team
is on pace to once again challenge for the NEWMAC Championship and
earn a possible fourth straight bid to the NCAA Tournament this
winter. After that, the women’s lacrosse team will try to
extend its streak of league titles and NCAA berths to six under new
head coach Michelle Smith this coming spring.
Babson Trio Eyes All-Time Scoring Records
A lot can certainly change when trying to predict what records
might fall in the future, but as things stand now, three Babson
athletes have a reasonable chance to become their program’s
all-time leading scorers in the coming year. Current women’s
basketball senior Nicki Wurdeman is within striking distance of
Michele Merten’s program record of 1,927 career points;
junior Eric Anderson will enter his final season needing 15 goals
and 34 points to reach Tim Winn’s all-time men’s soccer
marks of 56 goals and 141 points; and Morgan Lockwood has an
outside chance of overcoming Elise Conley’s field hockey
records of 77 goals and 187 points if she can post a monster junior
season of at least 30 goals and 77 points next fall.
Blinstrub Nears 500 Wins
Entering this season just 26 victories short of the illustrious
500-win mark, longtime women’s basketball coach Judy
Blinstrub currently needs 18 wins to reach the plateau. With her
team playing as well as it has so far this year, it seems likely
that she will hit the mark in 2012, either later this winter or
sometime during the first half of next season.
That’s a wrap for 2011. On behalf of the Babson Athletics Department, here’s wishing everyone a safe, happy, and healthy New Year!
