BABSON PARK, Mass.—First-year Tommy Munichiello (Weymouth, Mass.) scored twice and classmate Matt Brazel (Hingham, Mass.) added a goal and two assists for a career-high three points as No. 6 USCHO.com/No. 8 D3hockey.com Babson College defeated the University of New England in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) action on Friday night at the Babson Skating Center.

With its third straight win, Babson is now 14-4-2 overall and 10-2-1 in conference play, while UNE, which suffered its first league loss since November 21, slips to 11-7-1 overall and 7-5-1 in the NEHC.

Senior Max Franklin (Wrentham, Mass.) scored once, while classmate Jared Wiedemann (Pembroke, Mass.), junior Tim Searles (Chesapeake, Va.) and sophomores Jake Donahue (Groveland, Mass.), Rob Devaney (Reading, Mass.) and Matt McMorrow (Pearl River, N.Y.) each chipped in with an assist for the Beavers.

Senior Ryan Quinn (Burlington, Mass.) and first-years Arman Uomoleale (Westport, Conn.) and Jackson Tucker (Matthews, N.C.) each scored once for the Nor'easters, who got assists from five different players.

Babson dominated the opening period, outshooting the University of New England 22-5 and scoring a pair of goals to build a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. Munichiello put the hosts on top just 1:35 into the contest when he poked home the rebound of Brazel's shot from the slot that hit the post. Franklin then extended the lead with his third tally of the year at the 16:03 mark with a blast from the right face-off circle.

First-year goaltender Joe Noonan (Cranston, R.I.) kept UNE in the game with 20 first-period saves and the visitors cut their deficit to 2-1 when Quinn buried the rebound of a shot by junior Blaise Healy (Melrose, Mass.) that deflected off both posts just 4:38 into the second period. The Beavers regained their two-goal lead 52 seconds later though, as Brazel struck for his sixth goal of the year off a feed from McMorrow.

The Nor'easters pulled within 3-2 at 7:40 of the second when Tucker beat Babson first-year netminder Matt Pompa (Palm City, Fla.) from the high slot, but the Green and White answered late in the period to take its third two-goal lead of the night. Searles gained control of the puck in his defensive zone and carried it through the neutral zone before leaving it for Munichiello on his left, who beat Noonan with a slap shot from just inside the blue line with 51 seconds to go in the stanza.

The Beavers killed off a tripping penalty early in the third, but UNE got within 4-3 on Uomoleale's one-timer from the top of the left face-off circle at the 16:30 mark. The Nor'easters pulled Noonan with 1:29 remaining and nearly tied the game in the closing seconds. Pompa found himself out of the crease as the loose puck squirted to Uomoleale in the slot, but his shot with traffic in front of the net sailed just wide and out of danger.

Pompa finished with 15 saves to win for the third time in as many starts for Babson, while Noonan stopped 39 shots for UNE.

The Beavers finished with a 43-18 edge in shots and were 1-for-1 on the power play, while the Nor'easters scored once in four power play chances.

Both teams return to the ice on Saturday at 4 p.m. as Babson hosts Southern Maine, while UNE visits UMass-Boston.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 11-1-1 all-time against UNE.
• Babson has now outscored its opponents 29-8 in the first and second periods of its first 13 conference games.
• The Beavers are 14-0-1 on the year when scoring first and 12-1-1 when leading after the second period.
• Babson is unbeaten in its last 22 games when scoring four or more goals.