Men's Ice Hockey at the Middlebury Holiday Classic
Friday, January 3 | vs. Manhattanville | 7 p.m.
Saturday, January 4 | vs. Middlebury or Saint Michael's | 2 or 5 p.m.
Chip Kenyon '85 Arena | Middlebury, Vt.

WHAT TO KNOW
• The Babson men's ice hockey team returns from the holiday break on Friday when it takes on Manhattanville in the opening round of the Middlebury Holiday Classic.
• The Beavers, who are taking part in the event for the first time since 2012, will face either the host Panthers or Saint Michael's on Saturday.

SERIES HISTORY
vs. Manhattanville
• Babson is 2-1-0 all-time against Manhattanville in a series that dates back to 1999.
• The last meeting between the programs came in the 2012 Middlebury Holiday Classic final when the Beavers edged the Valiants 3-2 behind two goals from Connor Berto '14 and 32 saves from Jamie Murray '16.

vs. Middlebury
• Babson is 13-24-1 all-time against the Panthers in a series that dates back to the 1975-76 campaign.
• The longtime ECAC and ECAC East rivals have met just once over the last nine seasons, a 2-1 victory by the Beavers in the opening round of the 2012 Middlebury Holiday Classic.

vs. Saint Michael's
• Babson is 22-3-1 all-time against the Purple Knights in a series that dates back to 1998.
• The Beavers have won 18 of their last 20 games against Saint Michael's going back to December 2004, which includes a 4-0 victory in the final meeting as conference rivals on February 4, 2017.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (7-3-1) has won two straight and is unbeaten over its last six games following a 6-0 victory against Suffolk on December 7.
• Junior Nick Rosa finished with a goal and two assists as six different players scored for the Beavers, who received a 23-save performance from junior goaltender Brad Arvanitis.
• Sophomores Mike Egan (7-5-12) and Ryan Black (3-8-11) have combined for 12 points over the last four games, Rosa (5-5-10) has scored three times on the power play, and senior Ryan McDougall (3-5-8) has picked up four assists in his last two outings.
• Arvanitis (2-2-0) and sophomore Aidan Murphy (5-0-1) have combined to post a 1.61 goals against average and a .944 save percentage to go along with three shutouts over the Green and White's first 11 games.

SCOUTING THE VALIANTS
• Manhattanville (5-6-1) has split its last eight games and is coming off a 6-4 win over King's back on December 7.
• First-year Noah Bradley had two goals and two assists, while sophomore Niko Happo scored once chipped in with two assists for the Valiants, who scored four times on the power play.
• Sophomore Alex Rowella (6-5-11) is tied for the team lead with four power play goals, Bradley (4-7-11) is riding a four-game points streak, and Happo (2-9-11) leads the squad in assists.
• Junior netminder Mac Vail has gone 5-5-0 in 10 starts while posting a 3.83 goals against average and a .873 save percentage between the pipes.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
• Middlebury (6-2-0) has dropped just one game since the opening weekend of the season and is coming off a 3-0 shutout of Hamilton on December 7.
• Senior Mitchell Allen produced a goal and an assist and classmate Brian Ketchabaw stopped all 24 shots he faced for the Panthers, who enter the weekend having killed off 15 straight penalties.
• Allen (3-4-7) and senior Owen Powers (1-6-7) have combined for 10 assists, junior Matt Danner (2-4-6) has scored in each of the team's first two non-conference outings, and sophomore Zach Shapiro (5-0-5) leads the squad in goals.
• Ketchabaw is 4-1-0 in five starts and boasts a 1.64 goals against average and a .939 save percentage to go along with one shutout.

SCOUTING THE PURPLE KNIGHTS
• Saint Michael's (6-3-1) has won two straight games and is coming off a 7-0 victory over Castleton back on December 7.
• First-year Matthew Schreiner and junior Paul McAuliffe both scored twice for the Purple Knights, who got 40 saves from goaltender Alec Lindberg.
• Junior Sel Narby (4-7-11) has scored four times on the power play, first-year Jeremy Routh (2-7-9) is tied for the team lead in assists, and the duo of Schreiner (4-2-6) and McAuliffe (4-2-6) has combined for eight goals on the year.
• Lindberg, who is 2-1-0 in three starts, and senior Tim Decker (4-1-0) have combined to post a 1.95 goals against average and a .954 save percentage over their nine starts.

STRONG BETWEEN THE PIPES
• Murphy, who recorded his first career shutout in a 6-0 win over Johnson & Wales on December 6, ranks third in Division III in both goals against average (1.14) and save percentage (.960).
• Arvanitis has recorded shutouts in each of his last two starts and enters the weekend ranked fifth nationally in both goals against average (1.51) and save percentage (.949).

DEFENSE AND SPECIAL TEAMS
• The Beavers enter the weekend as the only team in Division III currently ranked in the top five on the power play, the penalty kill and scoring defense.
• The Green and White, which totaled eight goals in wins over Johnson & Wales and Suffolk in early December, ranks first in the country having scored on 37 percent of its power play opportunities (17-for-46).
• Babson has not allowed a power play goal in seven consecutive games and ranks second nationally having killed off 93.1 percent of its penalties (27-for-29).

STREAKING BEAVERS
• Egan (4-2-6) and Black (2-4-6) have both produced points in four straight contests, sophomore John Corrigan (0-4-4) has an assist in three straight outings, and Rosa (1-4-5) has recorded back-to-back multi-point games.

NUMBER TO KNOW
• The Beavers are 6-0-0 this season and unbeaten over their last 29 games going back to the 2017-18 season when carrying a lead into the third period.