Jan. 11, 2008

Box Score

CLINTON, N.Y. - Coming off its first defeat of the 2007-08 season, the 11th-ranked Babson College men's ice hockey rebounded with a spectacular offensive performance as the Beavers blasted the host Hamilton College Continentals, 9-1, in an ECAC East/NESCAC matchup on Friday afternoon.

With the win, first-place Babson remained unbeaten in conference play, improving to 8-1-2 overall and 5-0-1 in the ECAC East. Hamilton, meanwhile, lost its fifth straight to fall to 1-7-1 overall and 0-4-1 in the NESCAC.

The Beavers totally dominated the first two periods of play, outshooting Hamilton, 27-9, while building a 7-0 advantage. Babson scored twice in the first, as junior Alex DiPietro struck at 5:36 and fellow defenseman Gabriel Chenard-Poirier followed at 6:21, before rattling off five more unanswered goals in the second, including two shorthanded tallies on one powerplay. Junior Pat McLaughlin opened the second-period scoring with a goal at 10:01, and senior Tom Maregni and sophomore Jason Schneider each added short-handed bids at 12:35 and 13:09, repectively. Schneider later made it 6-0 with his second of the game at 16:12, and first-year Terry Woods capped the period with a goal at 19:00.

Hamilton finally got on the board when Travis Blood scored just 1:34 into the third period, but Babson answered with goals by senior co-captain John Geverd at 8:43 and senior Mike Venit at 19:02 to finish off the 9-1 rout.

Babson junior Skylar Nipps played just under 49 minutes and made 12 saves before giving way to freshman Dustyn Zenner, who stopped all four shots he faced in his college debut. Mark Donovan and Scott Hefferman combined for 25 saves in net for Hamilton.