Hildebrand Makes 40 Saves as Beavers Defeat Previously-Unbeaten Mammoths

AMHERST, Mass.—First-year Will Holland (Charlotte, N.C.) finished with a goal and an assist and senior goaltender Nolan Hildebrand (Penticton, British Columbia) stopped 40 shots to help No. 7 Babson College defeat Amherst College, 3-1, in non-conference men's ice hockey action on Sunday afternoon inside Orr Rink.

With the win, Babson improves to 7-2-1 overall. Amherst, which was unbeaten over its first three games, drops to 2-1-1 on the year.

Sophomore Matt Cormier (Waltham, Mass.) and first-year Egan Schmitt (Schuylerville, N.Y.) each had a goal and first-year Sam Sibold (South Hero, Vt.) recorded a season-high two assists to lead the Beavers. Senior James Perullo (Revere, Mass.) and first-years Mike Stevens (Massapequa, N.Y.) and Brendan Kennedy (Georgetown, Ontario) also chipped in with an assist apiece in the victory.

Sophomore Ben Kuzma (Sewickley, Pa.) had a goal and classmates Matt Toporowski (Kirkland, Quebec) and Max Thiessen (Alexandria, Va.) added assists for the Mammoths, who got 17 saves from junior Alex Wisco (Peterborough, Ontario).

The Green and White did all its damage in a span of fewer than six minutes in the opening period. Holland got the scoring started with a power play goal, the first of his collegiate career, when his shot from the right point took a deflection to make it 1-0 just 5:56 into the contest.

Cormier gained possession of the puck in the neutral zone and picked out the upper left corner from the right face-off circle for his first tally of the year to make it 2-0 at the 10:42 mark. Schmitt extended the margin to 3-0 just 40 seconds later when he split a pair of defenders on an odd-man rush and beat Wisco blocker side for his fourth goal of the season.

Amherst outshot the Beavers 13-2 in the second period and cut its deficit to 3-1 with his fifth goal in four games. He whiffed on his first chance after the Mammoths gained control of the puck following a turnover but beat Hildebrand short side on his second opportunity.

Hildebrand, who made eight saves over the final 5:23 of regulation, and the Babson defense were superb in the third period. The visitors allowed just one shot on goal during a 49-second Mammoths' 5-on-3 power play at the 8:36 mark, and successfully killed off a pair of minors to maintain their advantage.

The Beavers, who were outshot 41-20 for the game, went 1-for-4 on the power play and held Amherst to 0-for-3 on the man advantage.

Both teams return to action on Friday at 7 p.m. as Babson hosts Norwich, while Amherst takes on Wesleyan.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 26-16-4 all-time against Amherst and have won two straight and are unbeaten over their last three games in the series.
• Babson has allowed just one power play goal while killing off 95 percent (19-of-20) penalties over the last five games.
• Hildebrand's 40 saves are two shy of his career high recorded in a tie at Skidmore on November 18 and he improved to 5-0-1 with a 1.79 goals against average and a .948 save percentage in six starts with Sunday's win.
• Babson is 7-0-1 this season when scoring at least three goals.