NORTHFIELD, Vt.—Sophomore forward Dean Niezgoada (Brewster, Mass.) scored the only goal of the game 14:14 into the third period to lift No. 8 USCHO.com/No. 9 D3hockey.com Norwich University past No. 3 D3hockey.com/No. 5 USCHO.com Babson College, 1-0, in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East men's ice hockey action on Friday night at Kreitzberg Arena.

With the win, Norwich moved to 16-5-3 overall and 12-3-2 in ECAC East play. The loss snapped Babson's nine-game unbeaten streak and spoiled the performance of sophomore goaltender Jamie Murray (Scituate, Mass.), who stopped a career-high 47 shots on the night.

Heading into the final day of the regular season the Beavers (19-4-1, 13-3-1 ECAC East) hold a one-point lead over the Cadets in the conference standings, and must win at Saint Michael's on Saturday, or have Norwich fall to nationally-ranked UMass-Boston, to clinch their first conference regular-season title since the 1989-90 season.

Niezgoada tapped home a rebound of a shot by first-year Austin Surowiec (Louisville, Ky.) for his third goal of the season. The Cadets have now beaten the Beavers 1-0 twice this season, and each time the game-winning tally has come in the third period.

First-year forward William Pelletier (St. Jean Chrysotome, Quebec) started the play by finding Surowiec streaking down the right wing. Surowiec corralled the pass and got a wrist shot off that Murray was initially able to make the save on. However, Niezgoda crashed the net and fended off two Babson players, as well as Murray to get a stick on the puck and flip it up and into the left corner of the net to sound the Kreitzberg crowd into a frenzy.

Senior Chris Czarnota (Wakefield, Mass.) stopped 10 shots to earn his fourth shutout of the season, and second over the Beavers, for Norwich, which held a 48-10 advantage in shots on goal.

The Cadets dominated the possession and pace of the game from the opening faceoff, outshooting the Green and White 14-2 in the first period. Murray stopped senior Shane Gorman (Trumbull, Conn.) on a breakaway early in the second period, and just over a minute later he deflected a blast from Brendan Boyce (St. Albans, Vt.) off the pipe to keep the game scoreless.

Murray made three of his most impressive saves in the final period to keep the Beavers in the game despite being outshot 22-3 over the final 20 minutes. He stoned senior Chris Duszynski (Okotoks, Alberta) twice midway through the stanza and also denied senior Travis Janke (Swift Current, Saskatchewan) on a rebound attempt while sprawled out on the ice.

Not to be outdone, Czarnota made his biggest save of the game with just over a minute left, blocking a one-timer by junior Andrew Bonazza (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia) off a faceoff with his shoulder to keep the Green and White off the board.

Both teams wrap up the regular season on Saturday at 4 p.m. as Babson travels north to take on Saint Michael's, while Norwich hosts UMass-Boston.

GAME NOTES: Babson is now 21-34-6 all-time against the Cadets and has dropped three straight games in the series since the end of last season…The Beavers are 9-3-1 on the year in games decided by a single goal, and are 15-2-0 when allowing two goals or less with both losses coming to Norwich…Tonight's loss was Babson's first of the season on Friday night in 10 games.

Note: Portions of this release courtesy of Norwich University.