Beavers Erase Early Two-Goal Deficit, Improve to 3-0

BABSON PARK, Mass.—Juniors Ryan Black (Pomfret, Conn.) and Matt Wiesner (Newport Beach, Calif.) both finished with a goal and an assist to help Babson College defeat visiting New England College, 4-2, in men's ice hockey action on Friday night inside the Babson Skating Center.

With the victory, Babson improves to 3-0 on the year, while New England College begins the season at 0-1.

Senior Nick Rosa (Birmingham, Mich.) and junior John Corrigan (Stoneham, Mass.) each had goal, and junior Mike Egan (Billerica, Mass.) chipped in with two assists for the Beavers. Fellow junior Cole Sanderson (Basking Ridge, N.J.) and sophomores Andrew Holland (Winchester, Mass.) and James Perullo (Revere, Mass.) all recorded one assist, while senior goaltender Brad Arvanitis (Holliston, Mass.) made 27 saves to earn his second win of the year.

Sophomore Alex LaPlante (Londonderry, N.H.) had a goal and an assist and classmate Jhuwon Davis (Southgate, Mich.) scored once for the Pilgrims. Junior Spencer Kozlowski (Vancouver, British Columbia) turned away 37 shots in defeat.

Down 2-0 entering the second period, Babson pulled within a goal on Wiesner's power play tally at the 3:45 mark and then scored twice in the span of 1:15 late in the stanza to go in front. Corrigan tied it when he put away the rebound of a shot by Wiesner at 17:12 and Black and Egan set up Rosa's blast from the slot in transition to make it 3-2 at 18:27.

New England College was limited to just one shot on goal during its two third-period power plays, and Arvanitis made 10 stops in the frame before Black put the game away with an insurance goal at 17:46. Kozlowski made saves on both Black and Egan during the initial rush, but the Green and White kept the puck in the zone and Rosa found Black for a one-timer from the right face-off circle for this third tally of the year.

The Pilgrims jumped on top less than six minutes into the contest when LaPlante beat a screened Arvanitis from the slot in the waning seconds of a power play for a 1-0 lead. First-year Anthony Cinato (Warren, Mich.) missed wide on a breakaway at 11:37 of the first, but New England doubled its advantage when LaPlante fed Davis for a finish at the top of the crease just 1:18 before the first intermission.

Babson outshot the Pilgrims 41-27 and both teams finished 1-for-4 on the power play.

The teams will wrap up their weekend home-and-home series on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Lee Clement Rink in Henniker, N.H.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 43-22-8 all-time against New England College.
• Friday's contest marked just the fourth time in the last 13 games against New England College that Babson failed to score the opening goal.
• The last time the Beavers came back to win when facing a two-goal deficit was on January 5, 2019, when they scored four third-period goals to defeat Curry, 4-2.
• Black (3-6-9) and Egan (5-3-8) have combined for 17 points in five career games against New England College.