GENEVA, N.Y.—Third-ranked Hobart College scored a pair of power play goals and added a short-handed marker in a three-goal second period and the Statesmen went on to a 4-1 victory over No. 7 Babson College in the men's New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) debut Friday evening inside The Cooler.

With the outcome, Babson drops to 1-1 on the season and 0-1 in the NEHC while Hobart is off to a 3-0 start to the campaign, 1-0 in conference play.

First-year Egan Schmitt (Schuylerville, N.Y.) scored his second goal of the season for Babson and juniors Thomas Kramer (Bridgewater, Mass.) and Colby Bailey (Southborough, Mass.) recorded assists. First-year Nate Mueller (Rogers, Minn.) made his collegiate debut in goal for the Beavers and finished with 35 saves in the setback.

First-year Tristan Fasig (Sherman, Conn.) led the Statesmen with a goal and an assist, and graduate student Zach Tyson (Dublin, Ohio), sophomore Luke Aquaro (Yardley, Pa.), and first-year Tanner Hartman (Chicago, Ill.) scored once each in the win. Juniors Gagik Malakyan (Moscow, Russia) and Jonah Alexander (Toronto, Ontario) and sophomore Cooper Swift (West Hartford, Conn.) collected assists and first-year Damon Beaver (Whitby, Ontario) made 28 saves in goal to improve to 2-0 in his two starts this season.

After a scoreless first period that saw each team post 12 shots on goal, it was Babson that got on the board first with a power play goal in the second frame. Schmitt was denied by Beaver on a pair of shots in close to the goal, but Schmitt pounded in the second rebound to put the visitors on top at the 4:01 mark.

Hobart came alive and scored two power play goals just a minute and a half apart to take the lead. After Beaver made a save on a good shorthanded attempt by sophomore Matt Cormier (Waltham, Mass.), Tyson skated the puck from his own zone up the right side into the offensive zone, cut in front and tucked the puck past Mueller for a goal at 11:09. Aquaro followed with a backhander from just below left faceoff dot that snuck inside near post at 12:38 for a 2-1 Hobart lead.

The Statesmen tacked on a shorthanded goal late in the second when first-year Ignat Belov (Minsk, Belarus) pick-pocketed a Babson player in the face-off circle to Mueller's left and fired a shot on goal. Mueller kicked away the shot but Fasig buried the rebound to put Hobart up 3-1 after two periods.

The hosts capitalized on the man advantage again in the third period when Hartman took a crossing pass in front from Fasig on the left and beat Mueller between the pads to make it a 4-1 game.

Babson converted just 1-of-5 on the power play while Hobart was 3-of-6 with the extra skater along with a shorthanded marker. The Statesmen finished with a 39-29 advantage in shots on goal.

Both teams are back on the ice with NEHC encounters on Saturday at 4 p.m. as Babson visits No. 11 Elmira and Hobart hosts Southern Maine.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is 11-7-5 all-time against the Statesmen in a series that dates back to the 1987-88 season. Hobart is 5-1-3 in the last nine games against the Beavers.
• The Beavers lost for just the fourth time in 19 games (14-4-1) when scoring the first goal of the game, dating back to last season.
• Schmitt has scored a goal in his first two collegiate games after potting the overtime game-winner last Saturday in a 3-2 victory over Plymouth State.