BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior Andrew Holland (Winchester, Mass.) recorded his first career hat trick as No. 8 Babson College built a 5-0 lead on the way to a 6-3 victory over Johnson & Wales University in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) men's ice hockey action Saturday afternoon inside the Babson Skating Center.

The Beavers posted their third straight victory to improve to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the NEHC while JWU remains winless at 0-6 overall and 0-4 in league play.

First-years Sam Sibold (South Hero, Vt.), Charlie Andriole (Branford, Conn.) and Ryan Murphy (Grosse Point Farms, Mich.) all scored their first career goal for the Beavers in the win. Graduate student Max Torrez (Framingham, Mass.) and first-year Ian Driscoll (Middleton, Mass.) collected two assists each, and senior James Perullo (Revere, Mass.), sophomore Wyatt George (Mount Lebanon, Pa.) and first-year Will Holland (Charlotte, N.C.) added one assist each.

First-year goalie Nate Mueller (Rogers, Minn.) recorded his first career victory in goal, finishing with 28 saves.

Senior Ryo Namiki (Yokohama, Japan) led the Wildcats with a goal and an assist, and sophomores Kadyn Fennell (Evansville, Ind.) and Connor Blanchard (Waltham, Mass.) scored one goal each. Juniors Noel Parker (St. Paul, Minn.), Carter Elrod (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) and Brent Rickett (Portland, Maine) all posted one assist each and sophomore Jacob Perrin (Chelmsford, Mass.) made 43 saves in goal in the loss.

Sibold buried a rebound with five minutes left in the first period to put the Beavers in front with what was the only goal of the opening frame. Andriole doubled the Babson lead with a power play goal three minutes into the second period and Holland scored his first of the day with a shorthanded marker with two minutes to go in the second, capitalizing on a Wildcat turnover and ripping a shot over the goalie's shoulder into the top corner to put the Beavers up 3-0 after two periods.

The third period turned into a wild affair, with 11 penalties and three goals for each team. Holland notched his second of the night with a power play goal from the left post at 2:57 and Murphy converted a crossing pass from Torrez for a shorthanded goal at 6:29 to put the Beavers up 5-0.

JWU finally got on the board with a power play goal at 7:15 on a shot by Fennell from the top of the left circle, and Babson got it right back with another shorthanded goal when Holland capped off his hat trick, going short side from the left circle at the other end to make it 6-1.

The Wildcats tacked on a pair of late goals as Blanchard scored with 4:34 remaining and Namiki potted his first goals with 11 seconds remaining.

Babson finished with a 49-31 advantage in shots and went 2-for-5 on the power play while JWU was good on 2-of-8 with the man advantage.

The Beavers will be on the road next weekend for a pair of NEHC games, visiting Skidmore on November 18 and Castleton on November 19. JWU returns home to host Hobart and Elmira next weekend at the New England Sports Village in Attleboro, Mass.

GAME NOTES
• Babson has won all seven games all-time versus Johnson & Wales in a series that dates back to 2018, outscoring the Wildcats 46-11.
• The Green and White are 33-1 since the beginning of the 2019-20 season when scoring at least four goals.
• The Beavers are 3-0 this season at home and 18-2-2 at the Babson Skating Center since the start of the 20-21 season.