BABSON PARK, Mass.—Junior Thomas Kramer (Bridgewater, Mass.) and first-year Egan Schmitt (Schuylerville, N.Y.) each tallied a goal and an assist as No. 8 Babson College build a 5-0 lead on the way to a 5-2 victory over UMass Boston in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) men's ice hockey action Friday evening inside the Babson Skating Center.

The Beavers won their second straight game to improve to 3-1 overall and 2-1 in the NEHC while UMass Boston dropped its second in a row and fell to 1-4 overall record and 1-2 in conference play.

Senior James Perullo (Revere, Mass.) and first-years Mike Stevens (Massapequa, N.Y.) and Ian Driscoll (Middleton, Mass.) scored for the Beavers, with Driscoll potting his first collegiate goal. First-year Danny Cavanagh (Warwick, R.I.), sophomore Wyatt George (Mount Lebanon, Pa.) and graduate student Max Torrez (Framingham, Mass.) collected assists for the Green and White and senior Nolan Hildebrand (Penticton, B.C.) made 27 saves in goal in the win.

First-year Mike Manzo (Troy, Mich.) scored his first collegiate goal in the third period to put the Beacons on the board and classmate Grady Friedman (Kennebunk, Maine) followed with his fourth of the season in the setback. First-year Jazz Krivtsov (Santa Clarita, Calif.) and senior Nick Daluisio (Aston, Pa.) tallied assists for the Beacons, while senior goalie Sam Best (Woburn, Mass.) made 21 saves on 25 shots in the first 40 minutes and graduate student Liam Murray (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) stopped two of the three shots he faced in the third period.

The Beavers jumped in front at 13:53 of the first period when Kramer send a centering pass from the left side to Stevens in the slot and he buried his second of the season inside the left post. Babson doubled the lead 90 second later when Cavanagh found Perullo in the slot with a centering pass from the right side and Perullo one-timed a shot past Best for a 2-0 lead at 15:23 of the first period.

The Green and White extended their lead with a pair of second-period markers. George skated up the right side into the right corner and sent a pass to the back post where Driscoll put home his first career goal at 7:45. Schmitt took a pass from Torrez just inside the blue line a fired a wrist shot from the left circle to make it 4-0 at 13:19 of the second.

After Murray came on for the Beacons to start the third period, the first shot he saw was a clean breakaway by Kramer and he ripped a shot through the pads to make it a 5-0 game.

The Beacons came alive with a pair of goals three minutes apart in a comeback attempt. Manzo beat Hildebrand top shelf from right in front at the 5:01 mark to put UMB on the board, and Friedman weaved through the Babson defensive zone before firing a shot from the right circle to make it 5-2 with 12 minutes remaining. That was as close as the Beacons would get and Babson held on for the win.

UMB finished with a 29-28 advantage in shots after outshooting the hosts 13-3 in the third period. Both teams were unsuccessful with the man advantage, the Beacons going 0-for-2 and the Beavers 0-for-1 as just three penalties were called in the game.

The Beavers will be home again on Saturday afternoon when they host Johnson & Wales in an NEHC contest at 4 p.m. The Beacons will also play Saturday at 4 p.m. with a conference tilt at Southern Maine.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is 49-21-6 all-time against UMass Boston in a series that dates back to the 1978-79 season. The Beavers bounced back after the Beacons had captured a pair of one-goal games last season.
• The Green and White are 32-1 since the beginning of the 2019-20 season when scoring at least four goals.
• The Beavers are 2-0 this season at home and 17-2-2 at the Babson Skating Center since the start of the 20-21 season.