Men's Ice Hockey 11/18/2021 12:00:00 AM

Weekend Preview: No. 8 Men's Ice Hockey set to host Castleton and Skidmore for NEHC encounters

THE SETUP
• The Beavers open a three-game home stand this weekend with a pair of New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) games vs. Castleton and Skidmore.
• Babson will host Castleton on Friday night before taking out Skidmore Saturday afternoon, both games inside the Babson Skating Center.

SERIES HISTORY
vs. Castleton
• Babson is 22-5-4 all-time versus Castleton in a series that dates back to 2004.
• The Beavers are unbeaten over their last 12 games (11-0-1) against the Spartans and have won eight consecutive meetings against Castleton inside the Babson Skating Center.
• The two schools met twice during last year's Covid-shortened season, with the Beavers taking 6-0 and 6-1 victories from the Spartans in Babson Park.

vs. Skidmore
• Babson is 35-6-2 all-time against the Thoroughbreds in a series that dates back to 1999.
• The Beavers are unbeaten over their last 19 games against Skidmore dating back to the 2013 ECAC East Tournament.
• Babson has also won 11 in a row at home against Skidmore, which includes four one-goal victories since 2016.
• In their last two meetings during the 2019-20 season, the Beavers posted a 4-1 victory over the Thoroughbreds in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. on January 11 and a 3-2 overtime triumph in Babson Park on February 14.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 8 Babson (3-1-1, 2-1-1 NEHC) is coming off its first loss of the season, a 4-3 setback last Saturday at UMass Boston.
• Sophomore Colby Bailey tallied a power play goal for the Beavers, and senior Cam Schmitt and junior Chris Rooney scored back-to-back third period goals but a Babson comeback fell short.
• Senior Ryan Black (4-5-9) ranks second in the NEHC in points and tied for second in goals, while senior Mike Egan (3-3-6) is tied for sixth in goals and tied for seventh in points.
• Graduate student Brad Arvanitis (2-1-1) made 36 saves for the Beavers in the loss. He ranks second in the NEHC with a .930 save percentage and third with 132 saves.
• The Beavers are unbeaten in their last 27 contests when allowing two or fewer goals, a streak that extends back to November 23, 2019.
• Babson has have scored on the power play in 12 of its last 13 games going back to the start of the abbreviated 2021 campaign.

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
• Castleton (1-5, 0-2 NEHC) won its first game of the season over Wentworth, but has since dropped five in a row over Plattsburgh, Saint Anselm, SUNY Canton, New England College and No. 2 Norwich.
• Andrew Barber and Anton Tarvainen scored goals for Castleton in last Saturday's loss to Norwich, and Kyle Alaverdy made 31 saves in the Spartan goal.
• First-year defenseman Zach Papapetros (2-4-6) leads the Spartans in scoring through six games, and Tarvainen (3-0-3) tops the team in goals.
• Alaverdy (1-4) is sixth in the NEHC in save percentage (.917) and leads the league with 176 saves.
• Castleton was winless (0-7) in last year's Covid-shortened campaign, with only games against Babson, New England College and Norwich. The Spartans were 6-17-3 overall and 4-12-2 in the last full season in 2019-20.

SCOUTING THE THOROUGHBREDS
• Skidmore (2-1-1, 1-0-1 NEHC) earned three out of four points in its conference opener at home last weekend, tying No. 2 Norwich on Friday night, 4-4, and defeating New England College 4-1 Saturday afternoon.
• Seniors Austin Rook and Reid Russell each tallied a goal and an assist in the win over NEC, and freshman Jaden York and junior Matt Rutigliano also scored for the Thoroughbreds in the victory. Sophomore Tate Brandon made 40 saves, including 21 in the third period.
• Russell, first-year Zach Frisk, and sophomores Mason Beecher and Everett Wardle all scored for Skidmore in the deadlock against Norwich, with Wardle's goal coming with 28 seconds remaining in the third period to tie the score. Brandon stopped 31 shots between the pipes.
• First-year Kaeden Patrick (2-3-5) and Russell (2-3-5) lead the team in scoring, followed by first-year Zach Lindeworth (1-3-4), Rook (1-3-4) and Wardle (2-2-4).
• Skidmore lost its only two games of the Covid-shortened season last winter to Hobart. The Thoroughbreds were 11-8-4 and 7-7-2 in the last full season in 2019-20.

PILING UP THE POINTS
• Black extended his points streak to 15 games last Saturday, going back to the end of the 2020 campaign, producing 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points during this stretch.
• Black has an eye on 100 career points, entering this weekend with 33 goals and 47 assists for 80 points in 66 career games.

BABSON STREAKS VS. CASTLETON
• Black has five goals and two assists for seven points in his career vs. Castleton, including a goal in three straight games. Senior Matt Wiesner has five goals and three assists in his career vs. Castleton, including at least a point in five consecutive contests.
• Egan has tallied three goals and four assists in six career games vs. the Spartans, with at least one point in five of the six games.
• Arvanitis has a .953 save percentage and a 1.00 goals against average in two starts vs. Castleton.

BABSON STREAKS VS. SKIDMORE
• Senior John Corrigan has collected four assists in his career against Skidmore, including three helpers in two games in 2019-20. Black has a goal and four assists in five outings.
• Wiesner has tallied a goal and three assists in his career vs. the Thoroughbreds, including three assists in two games in 2019-20.

POLL POSITION
• Babson is one of three NEHC teams ranked in the Top 8 in the USCHO.com Division III poll, and one of four in the 15. Norwich is ranked fourth, Hobart is sixth and Babson is eighth while UMass Boston broke into the poll this week at 15th.
• Three other NEHC teams received votes in this week's poll – Elmira, New England College, and Skidmore.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson is 25-0-0 when leading after two periods over the last two seasons.
• The Beavers have won 22 of 23 games over the last two years when scoring first.
• The Beavers are unbeaten over their last 27 contests when allowing two or fewer goals, a streak that extends back to November 23, 2019.

UP NEXT
• Babson is home again on Tuesday with a non-conference game against Tufts. The Beavers will travel to Maine over Thanksgiving weekend for games at Bowdoin on Saturday and Colby on Sunday.

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