Beavers Fall in Conference Quarterfinals for First Time Since 2012

BABSON PARK, Mass.—Seventh-seeded University of Southern Maine scored once in each period and got 37 saves from senior goaltender Paul Léger (Blainville, Quebec) on the way to defeating eighth-ranked and second-seeded Babson College, 3-2, in a New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) Tournament quarterfinal on Saturday night inside the Babson Skating Center.

Babson, which had reached the conference semifinals in each of the last seven seasons, slips to 18-6-2 on the year and must wait and see if it receives one of four at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament when the field is announced in two weeks. Southern Maine, which had been shutout in seven straight postseason games, improves to 8-15-3 with its first conference tournament win since 2012.

Sophomores Ryan Black (Pomfret, Conn.) and Mike Egan (Billerica, Mass.) both scored in the third period for the Beavers. Egan, senior Connor Dahlman (Stamford, Conn.) and first-year James Perullo (Revere, Mass.) each recorded an assist, while junior netminder Brad Arvanitis (Holliston, Mass.) stopped 16 shots in defeat.

Senior Cody Braga (Middleboro, Mass.), junior Adam Papayoanou (Valencia, Calif.) and sophomore Michael Green (Baie d'Urfa, Quebec) all scored once for the Huskies. Seniors Ethan Bassile (Scarborough, Maine) and Brock Padgham (Chillwack, British Columbia) both picked up an assist in the victory.

Papayoanou opened the scoring just 2:10 into the first period when he chased down a loose puck along the end boards and stuffed a wraparound shot past Arvanitis at the near post for his fourth goal of the season. Braga made it 2-0 at 14:27 of the second when his shot from the top of the left faceoff took a deflection in front of the net and squirted in.

The Huskies tacked on an important insurance goal at 10:18 of the third when Green gained the zone along the right wing and ripped a wrist shot from the circle past Arvanitis for his sixth goal in the last six games and a 3-0 advantage. Babson pulled Arvanitis for an extra attacker for much of the final six and a half minutes and finally got on the board when Black buried a feed from Egan on a 6-on-4 power play with 4:05 to go in regulation.

Léger made six of his 13 third-period stops over the next four minutes before Egan scored his team-leading 14th goal of the season with just 2.5 seconds remaining for the final margin.

The Huskies' netminder needed to make just five first-period saves and got fortunate when Rosa hit the crossbar late in the stanza. Léger denied a one-timer by Babson senior Ryan McDougall (Milton, Mass.) and then tipped Black's rebound attempt just over the goal late in the second, and made a pair of point-blank saves on Rosa and sophomore Matt Wiesner (Newport Beach, Calif.) with under eight minutes to go in the third.

The Beavers, who went 1-for-4 on the power play, outshot Southern Maine 34-14 over the final two periods and 39-19 for the game.

The Huskies will travel to No. 1 Norwich for an NEHC semifinal contest next Saturday at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• Saturday's loss snapped Babson's 19-game winning streak against Southern Maine, a run that dated back to the Huskies' 2-1 ECAC East Tournament quarterfinal win at the Babson Skating Center back in 2012.
• Babson and Southern Maine have now split four postseason meetings going back to 2005.
• Black, who's 32 points this winter are the most by a Babson player over the last decade, now has two goals and two assists for four points in three career conference playoff games.