No. 5 Men's Ice Hockey vs. UMass Boston | Friday, January 21 | 7 p.m.
Babson Skating Center | Babson Park, Mass.
No. 5 Men's Ice Hockey vs. Johnson & Wales | Saturday, January 22 | 4 p.m.
Babson Skating Center | Babson Park, Mass.
THE SETUP
• The Beavers play their next three and seven of their final 10 regular season games on home ice, beginning this weekend with NEHC contests at the Babson Skating Center against UMass Boston Friday evening and Johnson & Wales Saturday afternoon. This weekend marks the first home games for Babson since November 23.
SERIES HISTORY
vs. UMass Boston
• Babson is 48-20-6 all-time against UMass Boston in a series that dates back to the 1978-79 season.
• The Beacons captured the first game this season between the two schools, upsetting the No. 6 Beavers, 4-3, on November 13 at the Edward T. Barry Ice Rink in Boston.
• Over the last 16 games between the programs, six have been decided by a single goal while seven have finished with at least a three-goal margin.
vs. Johnson & Wales
• Babson is 5-0-0 all-time versus Johnson & Wales in a series that dates back to 2018, outscoring the Wildcats 33-4.
• The Beavers blanked the Wildcats 6-0 in the first meeting this season on November 12 at the New England Sports Village in Attleboro, Mass.
• The two teams did not face each other in a pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season, but Babson won both games in 2019-20, 6-0 and 11-2, after taking the first two games against the Wildcats in 2018-19, both by 5-1 verdicts.
LAST TIME OUT
vs. UMass Boston
• First-year Alex Duncan scored a pair of goals as UMass Boston finished off a weekend sweep of NEHC opponents with a 4-3 victory over No. 6 Babson on November 13. Senior Ethan Nitkin and junior Jake Adkins also scored for the Beacons
• Babson got a second-period goal from sophomore Colby Bailey and third-period markers from senior Cam Schmitt and junior Chris Rooney, but a late Beaver comeback fell short.
• Junior Sam Best registered 39 saves to earn the win in goal for UMB, while grad student Brad Arvanitis made 36 saves but suffered the loss in the Babson goal.
• The Beavers finished with a 42-40 advantage in shots on goal.
vs. Johnson & Wales
• Senior Max Torrez scored his first two goals of the season and classmate Jack Nisbet added a goal and an assist as No. 6 Babson blanked JWU, 6-0, on November 12.
• Torrez and senior Ryan Black tallied power play goals for the Beavers, who went 2-for-5 with the man advantage. Grad student Paul Boutoussov and senior Mike Egan also got into the scoring act for the Beavers.
• Senior Aidan Murphy made 16 saves for the shutout in his first appearance of the season as Babson outshot the Wildcats, 63-16.
• First-year Jacob Perrin had a busy night in the Wildcat goal, finishing with 57 saves
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 5 Babson (9-3-2, 5-3-2 NEHC) is looking to bounce back from a 4-1 conference loss Tuesday at New England College.
• First-year Wyatt George scored the only goal for Babson in the opening minute of the game, but the Beaver offense was shut down the rest of the way, including on three power play opportunities.
• The Beavers also split an NEHC series last weekend against a pair of top 10 teams, falling to No. 10 Elmira on Saturday before defeating No. 5 Hobart on Sunday, both by 5-3 scores.
• Black leads the Beavers in scoring with 18 points on 10 goals and eight assists, followed closely by Egan (6-10-16), Wiesner (7-8-15) and sophomore Thomas Kramer (6-8-14). Black leads the NEHC with four game-winning goals and Kramer is tied for second with three.
• Arvanitis has started in goal in nine of the team's 14 games, posting a 5-2-2 record with a 2.63 goals against average and a .920 saves percentage, fourth best in the NEHC.
SCOUTING THE BEACONS
• UMass Boston (10-6-1, 6-3-1 NEHC) is tied for second in the conference with No. 8 Elmira and No. 11 Norwich, all with 19 points, and is receiving votes in the current US College Hockey Online Division III poll.
• The Beacons had a five-game winning streak snapped last Saturday in a 2-1 home loss to Norwich, the team's seventh straight home game.
• First-year defenseman Michael Krupinski scored the lone Beacons goal midway through the second period, which tied the score at 1-1 before Norwich potted the game-winner midway through the third.
• Senior Chris Peters leads the Beacons with 23 points (5g, 18a), followed closely by Nitkin with 22 points (12g, 10a). Peters tops the NEHC in points and Nitkin shared the conference lead in goals.
• Best leads the NEHC with eight wins (8-3-1) while posting a .912 save percentage and a 2.62 goals against average.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
• Johnson & Wales (4-13-0, 2-8-0 NEHC) is looking to break a four-game losing streak after falling to Anna Maria in a non-conference game on Tuesday, 6-4. Junior Kodi Legassie scored two goals for the Wildcats in the loss.
• JWU dropped a 6-2 decision to No. 11 Norwich last Friday, 6-2 before being walloped by New England College on Saturday, 11-0. The Wildcats had opened 2022 with wins over Framingham State, 4-2, and Castleton, 5-4.
• There is a three-way tie for the top scorer on the Wildcats – Legassie (5-4-9), sophomore Brendan Shandley (5-4-9) and first-year Kevin Bite (2-7-9).
• Goaltending duties are shared between sophomore Jaxon Friedman (4.69 GAA, .850 SvPct.) and first-year Jacob Perrin (5.97, .877).
POLL POSITION
• The NEHC has four teams ranked 11th or higher in this week's USCHO.com Division III poll – No. 5 Babson, No. 6 Hobart, No. 8 Elmira and No. 11 Norwich, and NEHC school UMass Boston is also among others receiving votes.
• The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (No. 1 Adrian, No. 7 St. Norbert, No.14 Aurora) and the Commonwealth Coast Conference (No. 10 Univ. of New England, No. 12 Endicott, No. 15 Curry) have three in the top 15, and the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (No. 3 Utica, No. 9 Wilkes) has two.
HOME ICE ADVANTAGE
• The Beavers are 3-0-2 at the Babson Skating Center this season, outscoring their opponents, 22-15.
• Babson is 8-0-2 over the past two seasons on home ice and 17-4-2 since the start of the 2019-20 campaign.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson is 5-1-1 this season when scoring the first goal of the game, suffering its first loss after scoring first Tuesday at NEC since the season-opening 4-2 loss to Curry on November 2, 2019, snapping a streak of 26 games (25-0-1).
• Babson is 29-0-1 when leading after two periods over the last three seasons.
• The Beavers are unbeaten over their last 29 contests when allowing two or fewer goals, a streak that extends back to November 23, 2019.
A LOOK AHEAD
• The Beavers will wrap up its current three-game home stand on Tuesday with a non-conference game against Amherst, beginning at 7 p.m.
• After road games the last weekend in January at Skidmore and Castleton, Babson will play four straight home games to begin February against Norwich, NEC, Williams and Southern Maine before wrapping up the regular season with a visit to Southern Maine on February 12.
