Feb. 15, 2008

Box Score

BABSON PARK, Mass. - Four days after dropping out of the national top-15 for the first time this season, Babson College reasserted its claim as one of the country's most dangerous teams with a thrilling 4-2 come-from-behind win over sixth-ranked Middlebury College in an ECAC East/NESCAC men's ice hockey matchup at the Babson Skating Center on Friday night. With the win, the Beavers improved to 14-5-3 overall and 10-4-2 in the ECAC East, while the Panthers dipped to 14-5-2 overall and 10-4-2 in the NESCAC with their third loss in the last five outings (1-3-1).

Trailing 2-1 after two periods of play, Babson stunned the visitors with three unanswered goals in a five-minute stretch in the third. The Beavers tied the game at 2-2 when sophomore Chris Wood (Medford, Mass.) shook off a big hit at the Middlebury blue line and dumped a perfect feed in to classmate Jason Schneider (Littleton, Mass.), who raced past a defender and beat junior goalie Doug Raeder (Needham, Mass.) inside the right post at 11:59. Less than four minutes later, sophomore defensemen Gabriel Chenard-Poirier (St. Augustin, Quebec) intercepted a pass at center ice and rushed up the left side, where he crossed the puck to junior Pat McLaughlin (Berlin, Mass.) cutting across the crease. McLaughlin followed with a beautiful fake to the right before backhanding a shot past Raeder on the stick side to put Babson in front, 3-2, with 4:21 to play.

Just over a minute after McLaughlin's go-ahead score, great defense once again led to a key goal for the Beavers as a poke-check at center ice sent Schneider streaking down the right side. The sophomore forward then fired a centering pass to Wood, who tipped the puck over Raeder's left shoulder with a spectacular diving effort to make it 4-2 with just 3:13 left in the game. The Panthers would pull the goalie for an extra skater over the final 2:05, including the last 17 seconds on a powerplay, but Babson would allow just one shot on net during that span en route to the 4-2 victory.

Middlebury took a 1-0 lead midway through the first period, as junior Jack Kinder (Shaker Heights, Ohio) hit a screen shot from the blue line that found its way past junior goalie Skylar Nipps (Orlando, Fla.) at 9:39. Babson tied the game with a powerplay goal at 15:07 of the second, as junior Alex DiPietro's (Winthrop, Mass.) slapper from the blue line caromed out to senior co-captain John Geverd (Hoookset, N.H.), who lifted a shot over Raeder from a tough angle on the right side of the crease. The Beavers' momentum would be short-lived, however, as Middlebury regained the lead when first-year Chaz Svoboda (Verdun, Quebec) took a feed from junior Mason Graddock (Stowe, Vt.) behind the net and backhanded a shot into the lower left corner at 16:18.

Nipps was brilliant in goal for Babson, finishing with 24 saves while playing all 60 minutes. Raeder played all but two minutes in net for Middlebury, stopping 21 shots.