GENESEO, N.Y.— A third-period comeback by No. 5 Babson College fell a goal short Saturday evening as No. 3 SUNY Geneseo held off the Beavers with a 3-2 victory in an NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament quarterfinal inside the Ira S. Wilson Arena.

The host Knights scored a pair of goals early in the third period to gain a 3-0 lead, but the never-say-die Beavers came back with goals by senior Mike Egan (Billerica, Mass.) and first-year Wyatt George (Mount Lebanon, Pa.) to slice the margin to 3-2 with 4:23 remaining, but Babson could not convert the equalizer and Geneseo held on for the victory.

Babson, making its fourth NCAA quarterfinal appearance since 2007, had its seven-game winning streak stopped and winds up the season at 20-6-2 overall. The Beavers reached 20 wins for the 12th time in program history and just the third time since 1992.

The Knights posted their fifth straight victory to improve to 23-3-1 and advance to the NCAA Tournament semifinals next Friday at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y., where they will take on No. 8 University of New England, a 2-0 upset winner over No. 2 Utica in another quarterfinal on Saturday.

Graduate student Brad Arvanitis (Holliston, Mass.) made 32 saves in the Babson goal, including several key stops that kept the Beavers in the game. Four teammates got their names on the scoresheet with assists -- senior Ryan Black (Pomfret, Conn.) and sophomore Thomas Kramer (Bridgewater, Mass.) on Egan's goal and graduate student Paul Boutoussov (Dana Point, Calif.) and senior Cam Schmitt (Andover, Mass.) on George's goal.

Junior Justin Cmunt (East Amherst, N.Y.) led the Knights with a goal and an assist, while junior Tyson Gilmour (East York, Ont.) and sophomore Nathan Poolman (Baudette, Minn.) scored one goal each and senior Chris Perna (Pittsford, N.Y.) tallied two assists. Sophomore Camron Cervone (Rochester Hills, Mich.), first-year Peter Morgan (Sarasota, Fla.) and senior Brendan Miller (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) also collected assists, and junior Matt Petizian (Mississauga, Ont.) made 15 saves in goal to post the win.

Geneseo had a 13-4 advantage in shots in the first period but Arvantinis was equal to the task and kept the Knights off the scoreboard. The hosts broke through early in the second frame just 16 seconds after Babson had killed off the first penalty of the game when Cmunt beat Arvanitis on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle for his 18th of the season at 6:42. That ended up as the only goal of the second period and the hosts took just a 1-0 lead into the third period despite outshooting their guests 27-10.

The Knights needed just 28 seconds to double their lead as Gilmour potted a power play goal from the right side on a feed from Morgan on the left for Gilmour's 10th of the season. The lead ballooned to 3-0 just three minutes later when Poolman broke up a Babson clear at the blue line and then received a return pass from Miller on a 2-on-1 and scored his second goal of the season.

Babson finally got on the board when Egan fired a shot from the left circle past the glove of Petizian just inside the right post for his 15th of the season at the 8:34 mark. The Beavers pulled to within one on George's power play goal as he picked up a loose puck in front after Schmitt's shot from the point was blocked and deposited his seventh of the season at 15:37.

The Beavers managed six shot attempts in the final four minutes, including three in the final two minutes with Arvanitis pulled for an extra skater, but couldn't get any on net and time ran out on their season.

Geneseo finished with a 35-17 advantage in shots on goal. Babson scored one power play goal on two tries and the Knights were 1-for-3 with the man advantage.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is now 0-1-2 all-time against Geneseo in a series that dates back to the 1989-90 season, with all three games coming in the NCAA Tournament.
• Black finishes his career with 48 goals, 64 assists and 112 points, and ranks tied for 14th in the program's career points list, tied for 15th in goals and tied for 13th in assists.
• Babson finished 13-3-1 this season when scoring on the power play, and 32-6-2 with a PPG over the past three seasons.