BOSTON, Mass. — First-year Alex Duncan (Andover, Mass.) scored a pair of goals as UMass Boston finished off a weekend sweep of New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) opponents with a 4-3 victory over No. 6 Babson College Saturday afternoon at the Edward T. Barry Ice Rink.

The Beavers, who suffered their first loss of the season, drop to 3-1-1 on the season and 2-1-1 in conference play, while UMB, which had defeated Southern Maine 9-3 on Friday evening, has won three in a row to up its record to 4-1-1 overall and 3-0-1 in the NEHC.

Babson got a second-period goal from sophomore Colby Bailey (Southborough, Mass.) and third-period markers from senior Cam Schmitt (Andover, Mass.) and junior Chris Rooney (Milton, Mass.), but a late Beaver comeback fell short. Senior Ryan Black (Pomfret, Conn.) also registered two assists, and seniors Mike Egan (Billerica, Mass.) and John Corrigan (Stoneham, Mass.) earned one assist apiece. Graduate student Brad Arvanitis (Holliston, Mass.) made 36 saves but suffered the loss in goal.

Senior Ethan Nitkin (Miami Beach, Fla.) and junior Jake Adkins (Centennial, Colo.) also scored for the Beacons, and seniors Evan Rochowiak (Livonia, Mich.) and Chris Peters (Fairport, N.Y.) registered two assists apiece. Junior Sam Best (Woburn, Mass.) registered 39 saves to improve his record to 4-1 on the season.

Nitkin and Duncan scored the only two goals of the first period for the home team, as the Beacons peppered the Beaver net with 16 shots and Best stopped all 11 shots he faced. Babson outshot UMB 21-5 in the second period but could only manage one score, a power play goal by Bailey, assisted by Corrigan and Black.

Duncan and Adkins scored two minutes apart midway through the third stanza to extend the UMB lead to 4-1. Babson made a comeback attempt, as Schmitt scored from Black and Egan at 11:31 and Rooney notched an unassisted goal 43 seconds later, but that ended up as all the scoring as Best held the Beavers at bay the rest of the way.

All five penalties in the game came in the second period, including four against the Beacons, but Babson managed only one goal in four power play opportunities. The Beavers finished with a 42-40 advantage in total shots on goal.

Babson plays its next three games at home, beginning with an NEHC weekend set next Friday and Saturday against Castleton and Skidmore, respectively. UMB is also home against next weekend for an NEHC set, hosting No. 4 Hobart on Friday and Elmira (Also Receiving Votes) on Saturday.

GAME NOTES
• This was the sixth one-goal game between Babson and UMB in the last 16 games between the two schools.
• Black extended his point streak to 15 games, producing 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points during the streak.
• The Beavers have scored on the power play in 12 of their last 13 games going back to the start of the abbreviated 2021 campaign.