NCAA Tournament First Round
No. 5 Men's Ice Hockey vs. No. 14 Trinity
Saturday, March 12 | 7 p.m.
Babson Skating Center | Babson Park, Mass.
NCAA DIGITAL PROGRAM | NCAA BRACKET
WHAT TO KNOW
• No. 5 Babson will host an NCAA Tournament first-round game this Saturday when it welcomes No. 14 Trinity College to the Babson Skating Center at 7 p.m.
• The winner of Saturday's game will travel to No. 3 Geneseo for a national quarterfinal next Saturday, March 19, in Geneseo, N.Y.
TICKETS
• Tickets for the game are priced at $8 for adults, $5 for seniors and children ages 3-12, and $3 for non-Babson students with IDs. Children under 3 and Babson students with ID are free of charge.
• No advance tickets will be sold. All tickets can be purchased at the Babson Skating Center ticket office, beginning at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
SPECTATORS
• The Babson Skating Center is operating at full capacity.
• Proof of vaccination is required for all spectators. Masks are optional for those with proof of booster, masks are required for those with no proof of booster.
• No entry will be permitted without proof of vaccination.
SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 17-8-2 all-time against the Bantams in a series that dates back to the 1969-70 season.
• Saturday's game will be the first meeting between the two schools since December 4, 2010, when the Beavers won their sixth game in a row against the Bantams.
• The two schools have never faced each other in the NCAA Tournament.
BABSON IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT (COMPLETE BABSON NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY)
• Babson is making its 18th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, which includes the 2020 tourney that was cancelled prior to the start of play.
• The Beavers have a 17-25-6 record in NCAA Tournament play, including a 6-6-4 mark at the Babson Skating Center.
• The Beavers are making their sixth appearance in the tournament since 2007, posting a 1-4 record between 2007 and 2014, including a first-round win over Wentworth in 2013.
• Babson has made six semifinal appearances (1983, 1984, 1988-91) and won its only national championship in 1984.
TRINITY IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT (COMPLETE TRINITY POST-SEASON HISTORY)
• Trinity is making its eighth appearance in the NCAA Tournament, all since 2003.
• The Bantams have an 8-6 record in NCAA Tournament play, with three trips to the semifinals.
• Trinity won the NCAA championship in 2015, reached the title game in 2017, and the semifinals in 2005.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 5 Babson (19-5-2) captured its seventh conference championship in program history last Saturday with a 5-3 victory over Skidmore in the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) title game at the Babson Skating Center.
• The Beavers, who claimed their first championship since back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014, posted their sixth straight victory.
• Junior Rory Casey scored a pair of breakaway goals, including an insurance tally in the third period, to lead the Beavers to the victory.
• Babson also got one goal and one assist from senior Ryan Black, who was named Tournament Most Valuable Player. He was joined on the All-Tournament Team by classmates Mike Egan, who scored once, defenseman John Corrigan and graduate student Brad Arvanitis, who made 23 saves in goal.
• Black (18-19-37) is tied for the NEHC lead in goals and points, while Egan (14-17-31) is tied for fourth in points and tied with Corrigan (2-17-19) and two others for fifth in assists. Wiesner (11-12-23) posted his third 20-point season, and Kramer (11-11-22) and Boutoussov (12-9-21) also have 20-point campaigns. Boutoussov is second in the NEHC with seven power play goals.
• The Beavers have scored nine power play goals in their last seven games, with at least one in each contest, and are ranked sixth in Division III in power-play percentage (29.3) and 13th in scoring offense (4.04 goals per game).
SCOUTING THE BANTAMS
• No. 14 Trinity (17-7-1) captured its sixth New England Small Conference Athletic Conference (NESCAC) championship last weekend with victories over Williams (4-0) and Colby (4-1) in Waterville, Maine.
• The Bantams have won their last eight games since a 2-2 tie at Middlebury back on February 4.
• Sophomore Gerard Maretta scored two goals in the championship victory, sophomore Jax Murray added a third-period marker, and senior Connor Sundquist tapped in an empty-netter to clinch the victory.
• Sophomore J.P. Mella made 30 saves in the title game win and allowed just one goal on 85 shots in the tournament after back-to-back shutouts over Connecticut College (5-0) and Williams (4-0) in the quarterfinals and semifinals.
• Junior Lucas Michaud (9-14-23) leads the Bantams in scoring, followed by Maretta (13-9-22) and Murray (9-12-21). Maretta and Murray lead the squad with five power play goals apiece.
• Trinity ranks sixth in Division III in scoring defense (1.88) and ninth in power play percentage (27.4).
UNLIKELY HEROS
• Casey, who scored a pair of goals for Babson in last week's NEHC championship game, entered the game with just one goal on the season. He was in the line-up as the extra skater.
• Junior Andrew Holland scored his first goal of the season at 12:47 of overtime for the game-winner in Babson's NEHC quarterfinal victory over Norwich.
CLUTCH SCORERS
• Black scored the game-winning goals in both the NEHC semifinal and championships games for the Beavers, pushing his season total to nine game-winners and his career-total to 12.
• Black leads all players in all NCAA Divisions with the nine game-winners and has tied the all-time NCAA Division III single-season record (Colin Mulvey, Norwich, 2013; Steve Aronson, St. Thomas (MN), 2000; Paul Caufield, Wis.- Stevens Point, 1991).
• Egan has 13 game-winners in his career, including a pair both this year and last year and six in 2019-20 when he was tabbed as the NCAA Division III statistical champion for game-winning goals.
SENIOR SNAPSHOT
• The Beavers have 13 seniors and two graduate students on this year's roster, including 13 skaters and two goalies.
• Of the 13 non-goalies who are seniors or grad students, 10 have played in at least 22 games and accounted for 70 goals and 107 assists, and 12 have skated in at least 18 contests, totaling 74 goals and 114 assists. The two goalies have recorded for 14 of the 17 victories.
• The Babson senior class has posted a 62-18-7 record over the past four years for a .753 winning percentage.
POSTSEASON HONORS
• Postseason honors have continued to pile up for Black, who was named NEHC Player of the Year and first team all-conference and was tabbed the NEHC Tournament Most Valuable Player.
• Black was joined on the All-NEHC team by Egan and Corrigan, who were second team selections and were also NEHC All-Tournament Team honorees. Kramer earned NEHC All-Rookie team accolades.
• The trio 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.
EXPERIENCE BEHIND THE BENCH
• Head coach Jamie Rice '90 has the Beavers in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time during his 18-year tenure at Babson.
• As a coach, Rice has led the Green and White to the national quarterfinals three times (2007, 2013, 2014).
• During his playing days at Babson, Rice helped the program make four NCAA Tournament appearances, which included reaching the national semifinals three straight seasons from 1988-90.
THE WAIT IS OVER
• Saturday's first round contest against Trinity will be played exactly two years to after the Beavers' 2020 NCAA Tournament game against Wesleyan was canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
• Babson was set to host the Cardinals on March 14 before the NCAA announced the cancelation of its winter and spring championships 48 hours before the game.
• Nineteen members of the Babson program were on the 2019-20 squad that earned an at-large bid to the tournament before it was called off.
TASTE OF THE TOURNAMENT
• Arvanitis and Boutoussov are only two members of Babson's squad that enter Saturday's matchup with NCAA Tournament experience.
• Arvanitis was a backup goaltender at UMass when the Minutemen reached the Division I national championship game in 2019, while Boutoussov helped Salve Regina advance to the Division III national title game in 2018. He produced a pair of assists in a quarterfinal win over Nichols and scored the tying goal in the third period of the final before the Seahawks fell in overtime to St. Norbert, 3-2.
BEAVER BITES
• Corrigan's 17 assists are tied for the second highest total by a Babson defenseman over the last decade. His 41 career assists rank fifth among Beavers' defensemen going back to 2006-07.
• Black ranks 17th in program history in points (110), is tied for 17th in goals (47) and is tied for 13th in assists (63).
• Black (37) and Egan (31) give the Green and White are the first Babson duo to produced 30 or more points in a season since 2004-05 when Johnny Kim '06, Sam Vatrano '06, Jamas Lafreniere '06 and Tom Sullivan '06 all finished with at least 30.
• Arvanitis went 3-0 with a 1.71 goals against average and a .939 save percentage in the NEHC Tournament.
POLL POSITION
• Six of the 10 schools in the NEHC are ranked (3) or receiving votes (3) in this week's USCHO.com Division III poll – No. 5 Babson, No. 7 Hobart, and No. 10 Elmira are in the top 15, and Norwich, UMass Boston and Skidmore are among others receiving votes.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson is 9-2-2 at home this season and 14-2-2 over the past two seasons.
• The Beavers are 13-3-1 this season when scoring the first goal of the game and 33-4-1 with the first goal over the past three seasons.
• Babson is 16-1-1 this season when tied or leading after the second period, and 43-0-2 when leading after two periods the past four seasons.
• The Green and White are 17-3-1 this season when scoring three goals or more, and 40-4-1 with at least three goals since the start of the 2019-20 season.
• Babson is 13-2-1 this season when scoring on the power play, and 32-5-2 with a PPG over the past three seasons.
