No. 9 Men's Ice Hockey at Skidmore | Friday, January 28 | 7 p.m.
Saratoga City Rink | Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
No. 9 Men's Ice Hockey at Castleton | Saturday, January 29 | 4 p.m.
Spartan Arena | Rutland, Vt.
THE SETUP
• The Beavers hit the road for their final NEHC road weekend of the season as they travel to Skidmore on Friday and Castleton on Saturday.
• With just six conference games remaining in the regular season, Babson is jockeying for position in the NEHC standings. The Beavers are in sixth place heading into the weekend but sit just three points out of a tie for second place.
SERIES HISTORY
vs. Skidmore
• Babson is 36-6-2 all-time against the Thoroughbreds in a series that dates back to 1999.
• The Beavers are unbeaten over their last 20 games (19-0-1) against Skidmore dating back to the 2013 ECAC East Tournament.
• Babson is also 7-0-1 at Saratoga Springs, going back to the 2013-14 season, with four of the games decided by one goal or fewer.
vs. Castleton
• Babson is 22-5-5 all-time versus Castleton in a series that dates back to 2004.
• The Beavers are unbeaten over their last 11 games (9-0-2) against the Spartans, including 4-0-1 at Spartan Arena.
• Three of the last five games at Spartan Arena included a tie and two one-goal games, and the other two were five-goal Babson victories.
EARLIER THIS YEAR
vs. Skidmore
• Senior Matt Wiesner tallied a goal and an assist and junior Nolan Hildebrand made 24 saves in his first start of the season as the No. 8 Beavers doubled up Skidmore, 4-2, at the Babson Skating Center on November 20.
• Graduate student Paul Boutoussov, senior Ryan Black, and first-year Matt Cormier also scored for the Beavers in the win.
• Sophomore Everett Wardle scored both goals for the Thoroughbreds, the second one coming with less than two minutes left in the game, and sophomore goaltender Tate Brandon finished with 23 saves.
• All three penalties in the game were whistled against Babson but Skidmore went 0-for-3 on the power play.
vs. Castleton
• Seniors Mike Egan and Cam Schmitt both finished with a goal and an assist as No. 8 Babson played to a 3-3 overtime tie with Castleton University on November 19 at the Babson Skating Center.
• Boutoussov also scored for the Beavers and graduate student Brad Arvanitis made 26 saves in goal.
• First-year Bryce Irwin, junior Brandon Picard and grad student Glenn Wiswell scored for the Spartans, with Wiswell's goal knotting the score at 3-3 at 17:54 of the third period.
• First-year Dominic Rodrigue made 61 saves for the Spartans as Babson had a 64-29 advantage in shots on goal.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 9 Babson (11-4-2, 6-4-2 NEHC) is looking to build on its two-game winning streak after posting a 3-2 come-from-behind non-conference victory over Amherst on Tuesday at the Babson Skating Center.
• Boutoussov and senior Hunter Garlasco scored back-to-back goals midway through the third period in the win over the Mammoths. Boutoussov finished with a goal and an assist and Wiesner scored a power play goal for the Beavers.
• Black (12-10-22) is tied for second in the NEHC in goals and points while Egan (8-13-21) tops the squad in assists. Wiesner (8-10-18) and sophomore Thomas Kramer (7-9-16) are averaging at least one point per game on the season. Black also leads the NEHC with four game-winning goals and Kramer is tied for second with three while Egan tops the conference in plus/minus (+19).
• The Beavers are sixth in Division III in power-play percentage, converting 30.6 percent of their chances with the man advantage.
SCOUTING THE THOROUGHBREDS
• Skidmore (12-6-1, 7-4-1 NEHC) brings a five-game winning streak into the weekend, including an impressive NEHC road sweep last weekend at New England College (5-2) and No. 11 Norwich (3-0).
• Brandon was perfect in goal for the Thoroughbreds with 26 saves against Norwich for his fourth shutout of the year following a 26-save effort in the win over NEC. Brandon is third in the conference in goals against average (2.05) and save percentage (.928).
• Senior Reid Russell had a goal and an assist to lead the way in the win over Norwich. Senior Mike Gelatt had a four-point weekend, including two goals and an assist in the triumph at NEC.
• Wardle (8-10-18) leads the Thoroughbreds in scoring along with first-year Kaeden Patrick (7-8-15), Russell (5-8-13) and senior Austin Rook (4-9-13).
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
• Castleton (4-14-1, 0-11-1 NEHC) enters the weekend looking to snap a six-game losing skid which included conference road losses at No. 11 Norwich (7-1) and New England College (5-3) last weekend.
• Senior Alex Maunula notched the lone goal in the setback at Norwich, and Wiswell tallied two goals in the loss at NEC.
• Wiswell (4-8-12) leads the Spartans in scoring, followed by first-year Zach Papapetros (4-6-10), while Picard (6-2-8) tops the team in goals.
• Senior Kyle Alaverdy (3.57 GAA, .910 Sv. Pct.) has logged the most time in the Spartan net with 11 starts, followed by junior Brandon Collett (4.85, .851) with five starts and Rodrigue (4.89, .899) with three.
POLL POSITION
• Seven of the 10 schools in the NEHC are ranked (4) or receiving votes (3) in this week's USCHO.com Division III poll – No. 6 Hobart, No. 7 Elmira, No. 9 Babson, and No. 13 Norwich are in the top 15, and Skidmore, New England College and UMass Boston are among others receiving votes.
• The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (No. 1 Adrian, No. 5 St. Norbert, No.15 Aurora) and the Commonwealth Coast Conference (No. 10 Curry, No. 12 Univ. of New England, No. 14 Endicott) have three in the top 15, and the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (No. 3 Utica, No. 8 Wilkes) has two.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson is 7-for-14 on the power play (50 percent) over the past five games while killing 12 of 16 short-handed situations (75 percent).
• The Green and White are 7-2-1 this season when scoring the first goal of the game and 27-3-1 with the first goal over the past three seasons.
• The Beavers are 10-3-1 this season when scoring three goals or more, and 33-4-1 with at least three goals since the start of the 2019-20 season.
• Babson has won nine of its last 12 road games dating back to last season, including six out of nine this season.
A LOOK AHEAD
• The Beavers will return home for its next four games against No. 13 Norwich, New England College, Williams and Southern Maine before wrapping up the regular season on February 12 at Southern Maine.
