BOX
SCORE
BABSON PARK, Mass. - Babson College netted a pair of
short-handed goals en route to a convincing 5-2 victory over
visiting Wesleyan University in an ECAC East/NESCAC ice hockey
matchup at the Babson Skating Center on Saturday afternoon. With
the win, Babson improved to 3-2-1 overall and 2-2-0 in the ECAC
East, while Wesleyan fell to 1-5-0 overall and 1-3-0 in the NESCAC.
Wesleyan enjoyed three powerplay chances in the opening period
of play, but it was Babson that would net the game's first goal
with a shorthanded strike midway through. With 20 seconds remaining
on the Cardinals' second man-up opportunity, senior captain
Brad Baldelli (Northborough, Mass.) intercepted a
pass at mid-ice and fired a lead pass up the left side
to junior Casey Fazekas (Montreal, Quebec).
The senior defenseman then broke in all alone on Wesleyan junior
Tim Archibald (Wellesley, Mass.), beating the goaltender with a
backhand to the glove side for a 1-0 Babson lead at 11:48.
Babson increased its lead to 2-0 at 13:34 of the second, as
senior JT Balben (Wayland, Mass.) took a pass from
senior Alex DiPietro (Winthrop, Mass.) in the
middle of the Wesleyan zone and left it for junior Shane
Farrell (West Warwick, R.I.) on the left side. Farrell
then ripped a one-timer from the circle off the near post and in
for his team's second goal of the game.
The Cardinals answered two and a half minutes later, when
sophomore Todd Keats (Northbrook, Ill.) stole puck deep in the
Babson zone and fed first-year A.J. Ferraro (New Canaan, Conn.) for
Wesleyan's first goal of the contest at 16:13. However, Babson came
right back with its second short-handed goal of the afternoon when
Fazekas fed the puck to a streaking Chris Wood (Medford,
Mass.), who potted his fourth goal in the last three games
off the right post and in at 16:54.
Babson continued to pour on the offense early in the third,
scoring two more goals to build a 5-1 advantage. DiPietro scored
the first on a wicked slapshot from the right point at 2:10, and
first-year Sean Roche (Franklin, Mass.) added the
second off a give-and-go from sophomore Terry Woods
(Duxbury, Mass.) at 6:30. Wesleyan would get one goal back
when sophomore Henry Coxe (Fanwood, N.J.) converted a feed from
junior David Layne (Flourtown, Pa.) during a two-man advantage at
10:14, but it would not be enough to prevent the eventual 5-2
Babson victory.
First-year Andrew Peabody (Marblehead, Mass.)
continued to play well in net for Babson, finishing with 21 saves
in the win. Archibald went the distance in goal for the Cardinals,
making a total of 29 stops.
