BOX SCORE
BABSON PARK, Mass. – The New England College Pilgrims
overcame three separate deficits on their way to an exciting 6-5
comeback victory over host Babson College in an ECAC East
men's ice hockey contest at the Babson Skating Center on
Friday night. With the win, NEC improved to 7-11-2 overall and
5-8-1 in conference play, while the Beavers fell to 9-9-2 overall
and 7-5-2 in the ECAC East.
First-year Ryan Heavey (Andover, Mass.) put the
Beavers in front early, as he took a feed from sophomore
Trevor Hines (Newburyport, Mass.) at the left
point and wristed a screen shot through a crowd in front. NEC
senior goalie Aaron Harvey (Milford, Nova Scotia) got a piece of
the shot with his right pad, but the puck dribbled through the
five-hole and over the goal line for Heavey's third tally of
the season at 3:05.
New England College tied the contest exactly halfway through the
first period, beginning when junior Greg Jacques (West Hartford,
Conn.) dug the puck out of the left corner. He then fired a
centering pass into the slot, where sophomore Ben Souders
(Downington, Pa.) one-timed a shot past Babson junior
Andrew Peabody (Marblehead, Mass.) for his third
goal of the winter, tying the game at 1-1 at 10:00.
Each team scored three times in a wild second period. Babson
struck first when sophomore PT Donato (Arlington,
Mass.) picked up a loose puck at center ice and skated in
all alone on Harvey. The Beavers' leading scorer then tucked
his 12th goal of the season into the five-hole at 3:41. The Beavers
scored again on a powerplay at 5:44, as first-year Matt
O'Neill (Norwell, Mass.) took a pass from junior
Mike Hoban (Medfield, Mass.) and lifted a
spectacular goal into the upper left corner from a tough angle near
the right endline.
NEC came storming back with three unanswered goals in a
three-and-a-half-minute stretch later in the second, with the first
two coming after overlapping Babson penalties. Junior Niko Uola
(Turku, Finland) scored the first on a two-man advantage at 12:40,
and, after the Beavers got one skater back, sophomore Jonathan
Boxill (Bracknell, England) netted the second on the powerplay at
13:47 to make it 3-3.
The Pilgrims grabbed their first lead of the game at 16:08 of
the second, as Boxill scored his second straight goal off an Uola
feed after a Babson turnover at the blueline to give the visitors a
4-3 advantage. However, Babson knotted the contest with a powerplay
score with just 21.4 seconds remaining in the period, as freshman
Jon Theriault (Boisbrand, Quebec) gathered a
rebound of Heavey's blocked shot and wristed it past Harvey
for the first goal of his collegiate career at 19:39.
Babson regained the lead for the third time in the contest at
8:55 of the third, as first-year Troy Starrett (Bellingham,
Mass.) found the upper right corner with a wrister from
the top of the left circle for his third goal of the year. However,
the Pilgrims answered once again when freshman Matt Abbott
(Kirkland, Quebec) stuffed a rebound of classmate Patrick
Corcoran's (Philadelphia, Pa.) shot into a wide open net to
tie the contest at 5-5 at 10:09.
NEC scored the game-winning goal just over a minute later,
beginning when junior Jarkko Leppanen (Tampere, Finland) took a
shot from the right point. The puck hit a Babson defenseman in
front and ricocheted to Uola on the right side, where the junior
forward tucked it inside the near post for his second goal of the
night and team-leading 18th of the season at 11:20.
Babson would manage just two more shots on net the rest of the
way, and Harvey would stop both, including a long slapper from
center ice by junior Dan Ahern (Melrose, Mass.)
with one second remaining. The senior goalie then dumped the puck
behind the net as the buzzer sounded, giving NEC the 6-5
victory.
Peabody finished with 28 saves in net for Babson, while Harvey
stopped 21 shots for NEC.
