Jan. 5, 2008

Box Score

NORTHFIELD, Vt. - Nick Quagliani scored a pair of goals, and D.J. Fimiani, Eric Lauriault and Nikita Kashirsky each netted goals as the 11th-ranked Norwich men's hockey team defeated No. 9 Babson, 5-3, to secure the 2008 Times Argus Invitational championship on Saturday.

Quagliani, who opened the scoring with 4:53 remaining in the first period, was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Chad Anderson was tabbed the "Rookie of the Tournament", while Lauriault and Ryan Klingensmith were selected to the All-Tournament Team.

Sophomore Jason Schneider, who led Babson with one goal and one assist, and junior defenseman Alex DiPietro were named to the All-Tournament Team for the Beavers.

Norwich extended its win streak to six straight games to improve to 8-2-0 on the season. Babson, meanwhile, suffered its first loss of the year, as the Beavers drop to 7-1-2 overall.

With Norwich leading 1-0 after one, the offenses for both teams woke up in the second stanza as the two clubs combined for four goals in the frame. Fimiani opened the scoring with a goal just 10 seconds into the period to extend Norwich's lead to 2-0. Babson answered Fimiani's goal with one of its own as Pat McLaughlin found the back of the net 1:18 into the period. About a minute later, Quagliani netted his second goal of the game to give the Cadets a 3-1 lead with 17:28 still to play in the second stanza.

Babson's Matt Harrington pulled the Beavers to within one at 3-2 heading into the third period when he scored at the 12:10 mark of the second.

Lauriault scored what proved to be the game-winning goal with 12:50 to play in the third period when he converted on the power play. Nikita Kashirsky added an insurance tally at the midway point of the frame when he fired a laser past Babson goaltender Skylar Nipps.

Schneider scored a power play goal with 8:13 remaining in the period, but Klingensmith shut the door on the Beavers down the stretch as the Cadets held on for the victory. Babson peppered Klingensmith with 17 shots in the final period, but the junior goaltender was up to the task, stopping all but one of them.

Klingensmith finished the game with 26 saves. Nipps finished with 16 saves for Babson. The Beavers will have a chance to avenge the loss in just under two weeks, as the Beavers host the official ECAC East matchup between the two teams on Friday, January 18, at 7 p.m.

NOTE: Taken from a Norwich University press release.