Feb. 16, 2008

Box Score

BABSON PARK, Mass. - Babson College scored six unanswered goals in the first 35 minutes on its way to a convincing 7-2 victory over visiting Williams College in an ECAC East/NESCAC men's ice hockey matchup at the Babson Skating Center on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Beavers improved to 15-5-3 overall and 11-4-2 in the ECAC East, while the Ephs fell to 8-10-4 overall and 6-7-4 in the NESCAC.

Babson controlled the contest from the start, outshooting the visitors, 12-4, while scoring two goals in the first period. Sophomore Casey Fazekas (Montreal, Quebec kicked off one of his best games of the year with his second goal of the season at 6:13, and junior Pat McLaughlin (Berlin, Mass.) continued his brilliant campaign with his team-leading 12th at 8:01.

The Beavers put the game away with an overpowering second period, scoring four goals in a five-minute span midway through the session to build a commanding 6-0 advantage. Senior Mike Venit (Ridley Park, Pa.) converted a feed from McLaughlin for his 10th of the year at 10:19, and Fazekas added his second of the game off powerplay assists from juniors Alex DiPietro (Winthrop, Mass.) Brad Baldelli (Northboro, Mass.) at 13:34. Venit tacked on his second and 11th overall just 16 seconds later, and sophomore Chris Wood (Medford, Mass.) made it 6-0 with his fourth of the season at 14:42. Williams would finally get on the board when sophomore Alex Smigelski (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) redirected a shot by senior Steve Bruch (London, Ontario) into the net with 11 seconds left in the period, but Babson still held a confortable 6-1 lead heading into the third.

Junior JT Balben (Wayland, Mass.) capped off the Babson scoring with his sixth of the year just over a minute into the third period, giving the Beavers a 7-1 advantage. Smigelski would add another late-period goal when he scored his second of the night and ninth of the season with 49 seconds left, but it would not be enough to prevent the 7-2 Babson win.

Babson junior goalie Skylar Nipps (Orlando, Fla.) started and made 16 saves before giving way to sophomore Travis Clarke (Waltham, Mass.), who made two stops in the final nine minutes. Sophomore Marc Pulde (Lexington, Mass.) stopped 23 shots in 35 minutes for Williams before being relieved by junior Rick Redmond (Winnetka, Ill.), who made 15 saves the rest of the way.

Fazekas added one assist to go along with his two goals for Babson, while McLaughlin finished with one score and two assists. Venit and Smigelski were the only other players with multiple points, as each netted a pair of goals for their respective teams.