NORTHFIELD, Vt.—Senior Tyler Piacentini (South Weymouth, Mass.) broke a scoreless deadlock at 16:17 of the third period as No. 10 USCHO.com/No. 13 D3hockey.com Norwich University defeated No. 12/12 Babson College, 2-0, in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) men's ice hockey action on Saturday afternoon at Kreitzberg Arena.

Babson, which suffered its third straight loss, slips to 7-4-1 overall and 4-2-0 in conference play, while Norwich improves to 9-1-1 overall and 7-1-0 in the NEHC with its fifth straight win.

Sophomore goaltender Matt Pompa (Palm City, Fla.) finished with 23 saves on 24 shots for the Beavers.

Piacentini also added an empty net goal for the Cadets, who got 18 saves from senior netminder Ty Reichenbach (Billings, Mont.).

The Green and White killed off a pair of first-period penalties, and the teams combined for just 22 shots over the first two periods of a tight, defensive battle. Pompa turned away 14 shots over the first two periods and made nine saves in the third, including three stops within 20 seconds to keep the game scoreless with 5:21 to play in regulation.

Norwich finally broke through with the game's first goal with less than four minutes to play in regulation. Senior Paul Russell (Andover, Mass.) caused a turnover in the neutral zone and skated up the left side before sliding the puck through a defender to Piacentini, who lifted a shot over Pompa's shoulder for his fifth goal of the season and a 1-0 lead.  

Piacentini tacked on an insurance goal with 2:00 remaining when he flipped a shot into the empty net from center ice for the final margin.

Junior Jake Donahue (Groveland, Mass.) and sophomore Matt Brazel (Hingham, Mass.) each finished with four shots apiece for the Beavers, who were limited to a season-low 18 shots on goal.

The Cadets finished with a 25-18 edge in shots, while both teams went scoreless on the power play.

Babson plays its final game of the first semester on Thursday when it travels to Curry for a 6:45 p.m. start, while Norwich hosts Saint Michael's on Friday at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 24-39-6 all-time against Norwich with the teams having split their last four meetings.
•    Babson was shutout for the first time in 26 games since suffering a 1-0 loss at Saint Anselm on January 9, 2016.
•    The Beavers are 4-3-1 this season when giving up the first goal.
•    Saturday's loss was the first this season for Babson when allowing two goals or less.

Note: Portions of this release courtesy of Norwich University.