Nov. 25, 2007

Photo Gallery  | Box Score (Babson vs. Curry) | Box Score (Hamilton vs. SUNY Potsdam

BABSON PARK, Mass. - Sophomore Casey Fazekas (Montreal, Quebec) and the Babson College defense held visiting Curry College scoreless over the final 37 minutes as the Beavers defeated the Colonels, 4-2, to claim the 2007 Babson Invitational Tournament presented by Irving Oil Championship on Sunday afternoon. With the victory, the Beavers, ranked ninth in the nation in the most recent U.S. College Hockey Online poll, improved to 4-0-1 on the year, while Curry suffered its first loss to fall to 5-1-1.

Thanks to his timely offense and outstanding defensive play throughout the weekend, Fazekas was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. He recorded an assist in both of Babson's games, including one on the game-winner in Sunday's win over Curry, while also tallying the only goal for either team in the shootout following Saturday's 4-4 tie with SUNY Potsdam that put his team in the finals.
 
Babson jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when senior Mike Venit (Ridley Park, Pa.) scored off a feed from junior Nick Jones (Melrose, Mass.) just 1:44 into the contest. Curry then answered at 5:22 of the opening period, as first-year Jason Yuel (Winnipeg, Mannitoba) scored on the powerplay off assists from sophomore Ross Enmark (Shelby Township, Mich.) and first-year Alexander Laseen (Redondo Beach, Calif.) to send the contest into the first intermission knotted at 1-1.
 
Yuel gave the Colonels their first lead of the contest at 3:27 of the second, as he intercepted a pass in his own defensive zone and converted a breakaway short-handed goal to give Curry a 2-1 advantage. However, Babson answered with two goals in a four-minute stretch later in the period, as sophomore Jason Schneider (Littleton, Mass.) scored off junior Alex DiPietro's (Winthrop, Mass.) rebound on the powerplay at 12:01 and sophomore Chris Wood (Medford, Mass.) added a goal on a redirection of Fazekas' shot at 16:02.

Babson maintained its one-goal advantage throughout most of the third period, thanks to the brilliant play of junior goalie Skylar Nipps (Orlando, Fla.). The Beavers' veteran goaltender made 12 of his 30 saves in the final session, including a huge stop on Yuel's bid for the hat trick that would have tied the game with a minute remaining. Moments later, junior co-captain Brad Baldelli (Northboro, Mass.) clinched the victory with an empty net goal, as his clear attempt after a faceoff in the Babson zone went the length of the ice and in with 53 seconds on the clock.

Joining Fazekas on the All-Tournament Team were Nipps, who made 53 saves on 59 shots in two games while also stopping all five bids during Saturday's shootout, and Baldelli, who recorded three assists against SUNY Potsdam to go along with his insurance goal on Sunday. Yuel and Curry junior defenseman Jarrett Sousa (Providence, R.I.) were also selected to the All-Tournament Team, as were senior forward Andrew Dicristoforo (Manotick, Ontario) of Hamilton and senior defenseman Lance Smith (Fort Covington, N.Y.) of SUNY Potsdam.

2007 All-Tournament Team
Most Valuable Player - Casey Fazekas, Babson
F - Brad Baldelli, Babson
F - Jason Yuel, Curry
F - Andrew Dicristoforo, Hamilton
D - Jarrett Sousa, Curry
D - Lance Smith, SUNY Potsdam
GK - Skylar Nipps, Babson

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Hefferman Leads Hamilton To 2-0 Victory Over SUNY Potsdam

BABSON PARK, Mass. -- First-year goalie Scott Hefferman (Warwick, R.I.) recorded a 33-save shutout in his collegiate debut as the Hamilton College Continentals defeated the SUNY Potsdam Bears, 2-0, in the consolation game of the 2007 Babson Invitational Tournament presented by Irving Oil on Sunday afternoon. With the win, Hamilton College coach Phil Grady earned his 300th career victory, as his squad improved to 1-2-1 on the year. SUNY Potsdam saw its season record fall to 4-4-3.

Hamilton took a 1-0 lead midway through the opening period, as sophomore Jerome Wallace (Libertyville, Ill.) converted scored off a rebound of senior Andrew Decristoforo's (Manotick, Ontario) shot at 13:33. The score remained 1-0 until early in the third, when Decristoforo took a pass from junior Jake Davis (Dallas, Texas) on the left side and wristed a shot into the upper right corner to give the Continentals a 2-0 advantage at 4:19.

After making just three saves in the first period, Hefferman turned away 13 in the second and 17 more in the third for a total of 33 stops. Senior Rob Barhardt (Fort Erie, Ontario) was also outstanding in net for SUNY Potsdam, as he finished with 44 saves in defeat.