NEHC Tournament Semifinal
No. 8 Men's Ice Hockey at No. 7 Elmira
Saturday, February 26 | 7 p.m.
Murray Athletic Center | Elmira, N.Y.
SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 5-6-0 all-time against the Soaring Eagles in a series that dates back to 1977-78.
• The Beavers have faced Elmira just four times since 2003, splitting a pair of games in 2015 and 2016, and splitting the two regular season games this winter, with the winning team taking both contests.
• Babson and Elmira matched up against each other in the NCAA Tournament in both 1988 and 1991.
EARLIER THIS SEASON
• Senior Ryan Black had a four-point night with two goals and two assists and classmate Mike Egan scored twice to help No. 11 Babson defeat 13th-ranked Elmira, 6-3, on November 5 inside the Babson Skating Center. Senior Matt Wiesner and first-year Wyatt George each scored once and graduate student Brad Arvanitis stopped 37 shots to pick up his second victory of the year.
• Sophomore Chance Gorman recorded a goal and an assist and classmates Shawn Kennedy and Janis Vizbelis each scored once for the Soaring Eagles. Graduate student Chris Janzen made 24 saves in just over two periods of action in the loss.
• Sophomore Nicholas Domitrovic scored two third-period goals and No. 10 Elmira snuffed out a late comeback by No. 6 Babson on January 15 as the Soaring Eagles defeated the Beavers, 5-3, inside the Murray Athletic Center. Sophomores Bailey Krawczyk and Gorman added a goal and an assist to the Elmira offense and Janzen made 27 saves in goal.
• Black and junior Chris Rooney tallied a goal and an assist each to lead Babson, and Wiesner scored one goal. Senior John Corrigan collected two assists and senior goalie Aidan Murphy made 28 saves in the setback.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 8 and fourth-seeded Babson (17-5-2) advanced to the NEHC semifinal round with a dramatic 2-1 overtime victory over No. 14 and fifth-seeded Norwich last Saturday in a quarterfinal battle inside the Babson Skating Center.
• Junior Andrew Holland scored his first goal of the season at 12:47 of overtime for the game-winner after senior Cam Schmitt scored with 5:47 remaining in the third period to force the overtime.
• Black (16-17-33) ranks second in the NEHC in points and third in goals, while Egan (12-16-28) is seventh in assists and sixth in points. Sophomore Thomas Kramer (11-11-22) also averages nearly a point per game and Wiesner (10-12-22) posted his third 20-point season.
• Boutoussov shares the NEHC lead with seven power play goals, and Black leads all NCAA Divisions with seven game-winning goals.
• The Beavers have scored seven power play goals in their last five games are ranked fifth in Division III in power-play percentage (29.8) and 14th in scoring offense (4.04 goals per game).
SCOUTING THE SOARING EAGLES
• No. 7 and second-seeded Elmira (18-5-2) advanced to the NEHC semifinal round with a 7-1 victory over seventh-seeded New England College last Saturday in quarterfinal matchup inside the Murray Athletic Center. The Soaring Eagles are 5-0-1 in their last six games.
• Vizbelis and Krawczyk paved the way for Elmira with two goals apiece, while classmates Amedeo Mastrangeli and Daniel Dimon each recorded three assists. Janzen made 33 saves on 34 shots in the victory.
• The Soaring Eagles have a balanced scoring offense, led by Gorman (12-17-29), Vizbelis (15-13-28) and Kennedy (15-12-27). Also averaging at least a point a game are Krawczyk (12-13-25), Ryan Reifler (9-15-24) and Domitrovic (8-15-23).
• Janzen started 19 of the team's 25 games in goal this winter, posting an 11-5-2 record with a 2.48 goals against average and a .917 save percentage, fourth-best in the NEHC.
• The Soaring Eagles enter the weekend second in the nation in power play percentage (.337) and ranked ninth in scoring offense (4.24).
BABSON IN THE POSTSEASON
• The Beavers are playing in the conference semifinals for the seventh time in the last eight years and 17th time in the last 21 years.
• Babson is seeking its first trip to the conference championship game since 2016 after reaching the title game eight times in 10 seasons from 2007-16.
• Babson has captured six conference championships - 1984, 1992, 2007, 2009, 2013 and 2014.
ELMIRA IN THE POSTSEASON
• The Soaring Eagles are playing the NEHC Tournament for the first time since competing in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) the past four years and the ECAC West for several decades before that.
• Elmira captured the UCHC championship last season with a 3-0 victory over Stevenson in the title game.
• The Purple and Gold won the ECAC West Tournament Championship 11 times from 1978-2014, and have made 17 NCAA Tournament appearances, most recently in 2012.
NCAA TOURNAMENT IMPLICATIONS
• Babson is currently tied for ninth while Elmira is sixth in the latest Pairwise rankings, which are used to select the four at-large teams that will join the eight automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Tournament.
• In addition to advancing to next weekend's league title game, the winner of Saturday's contest between the Beavers and Soaring Eagles will remain in prime position to reach the NCAA Tournament while the loser will have to hope the top seeds in conference tournaments across the country win out.
40/40 CLUB
• With his assist last Saturday against Norwich, Wiesner is now one of three players with at least 40 career goals and assists.
• Black (45g, 61a) ranks 17th in program history with 106 points, Egan has produced 41 goals and 49 assists for 90 points in 83 games and Wiesner has 40 goals and 40 assists for 80 points in 83 career appearances on the ice for the Beavers.
NEHC PLAYOFFS
• The other NEHC semifinal game Saturday is #6-seeded Skidmore at #1-seed Hobart.
• The conference championship game is on tap of Saturday, March 5, at the site of the highest remaining seed.
POSTSEASON HONORS HAVE BEGUN
• Postseason honors have begun to roll in for Black, who was named NEHC Player of the Year and first team all-conference last week.
• Black was joined on the All-NEHC team by Egan and Corrigan, who were second team selections. Kramer earned NEHC All-Rookie team accolades.
• The trip of Black, Egan and Corrigan were all among 30 players selected as semifinalists for the 21st Joe Concannon Award as announced by the Greater Gridiron Club of Boston, given to the top American-born player in New England in Division II/III.
POLL POSITION
• Five of the 10 schools in the NEHC are ranked (3) or receiving votes (2) in this week's USCHO.com Division III poll – No. 5 Hobart, No. 7 Elmira, and No. 8 Babson are in the top 15, and Norwich and UMass Boston are among others receiving votes.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers are 12-3-1 this season when scoring the first goal of the game and 32-4-1 with the first goal over the past three seasons.
• Babson is 14-1-1 this season when tied or leading after the second period, and 42-0-2 when leading after two periods the past four seasons.
• The Green and White are 15-3-1 this season when scoring three goals or more, and 38-4-1 with at least three goals since the start of the 2019-20 season.
• Babson is 11-2-1 this season when scoring on the power play, and 30-5-2 with a PPG over the past three seasons.
