NEHC Tournament Championship
No. 6 Men's Ice Hockey vs. Skidmore
Saturday, March 5 | 7 p.m.
Babson Skating Center | Babson Park, Mass. 

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 37-6-2 all-time against the Thoroughbreds in a series that dates back to 1999.
• The Beavers won 4-2 in Babson Park back on November 20 and posted a 3-2 victory in Saratoga Springs on January 28.
• Over the last nine games between the teams, six have been decided by a single goal and another ended in a tie.
• Five of the last nine contests between Babson and Skidmore have finished in overtime.
• Five of the 10 all-time meetings in the postseason have also been decided by a single goal, which includes recent victories by the Beavers in the 2018 (3-2 2OT) and 2019 (2-1) NEHC Tournament quarterfinals.

EARLIER THIS SEASON
• Sophomore Thomas Kramer scored back-to-back third-period goals less than four minutes apart to lift No. 9 Babson to a 3-2 victory come-from-behind over Skidmore in the last meeting on January 28 inside the Saratoga City Rink.
• Kramer posted his second multi-goal game of the season and junior Rory Casey scored his first career goal for the Beavers. Senior Ryan Black collected a pair of assists and graduate student Brad Arvanitis made 26 saves in goal to earn the win.
• First-year Kaeden Patrick scored both goals for the Thoroughbreds, and sophomore Tate Brandon made 22 saves in the setback.
• Senior Matt Wiesner tallied a goal and an assist and junior Nolan Hildebrand made 24 saves in his first of three starts this season as No. 8 Babson doubled up Skidmore, 4-2, on November 20 inside the Babson Skating Center.
• Graduate student Paul Boutoussov, Black, and first-year Matt Cormier also scored for the Beavers, who built a 4-1 lead.
• Sophomore Everett Wardle tallied both goals for the Thoroughbreds and Brandon finished with 23 saves in the loss.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 6 and fourth-seeded Babson (18-5-2) advanced to the NEHC title game with back-to-back overtime play-off victories, edging No. 14 and fifth-seeded Norwich, 2-1, in the quarterfinals on February 19 inside the Babson Skating Center and clipping No. 7 and second-seeded Elmira, 3-2, in a semifinal contest last Saturday in Pine Valley, N.Y.
• Black scored the game-winner in last Saturday's thriller over Elmira 18 minutes and 50 seconds into OT for his NCAA-leading eighth game-winning goal of the season. Classmate Mike Egan tallied a goal and an assist and Wiesner scored one goal. Arvanitis matched his career high with 47 saves on 49 shots, including 11 in the third period and 11 more in overtime.
• Junior Andrew Holland scored his first goal of the season at 12:47 of overtime for the game-winner against Norwich after senior Cam Schmitt tied the contest at 1-1 with 5:47 remaining in the third period to force the overtime. Arvanitis made 23 saves to earn the win in goal.
• Black (17-18-35) ranks second in the NEHC in goals and points, while Egan (13-17-30) is fifth in points and tied with senior John 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 (12-8-20) also have 20-point campaigns. Boutoussov is second in the NEHC with seven power play goals.
• The Beavers have scored eight power play goals in their last six games, with at least one in each contest, and are ranked fifth in Division III in power-play percentage (29.5) and 14th in scoring offense (4.0 goals per game).

SCOUTING THE THOROUGHBREDS
• Sixth-seeded and receiving votes nationally, Skidmore (16-9-2) is a surprising opponent in the NEHC title game after a pair of road playoff victories at third-seeded UMass Boston (5-3) on February 19 and top-seeded and No. 5 Hobart (3-2) last Saturday in Geneva, N.Y. They are Skidmore's first playoff wins since 2012.
• Three freshmen: Kaeden Patrick, Zach Frisk, and Zach Lindewirth scored the goals for Skidmore in last week's upset over Hobart. Frisk also assisted on Lindewirth's game-winning tally on the power play in the third period. Brandon totaled 32 saves including 12 each over the final two periods.
• Senior Austin Rook scored twice for Skidmore in the win at UMB, including the game-winning tally. Brandon came up with several key saves in the third period to preserve the lead, finishing with 39 saves, 16 over the final 20 minutes.
• The Thoroughbreds boast has a balanced scoring with four 20-point scorers in Patrick (12-11-23), Rook (8-14-22), Mike Gelatt (9-12-21) and Wardle (9-12-21), and Rook has a team-high five power play goals. Brandon (11-9-2, 2.18 GAA, .925 sv pct.) leads the NEHC in minutes played and ranks second in wins, goals against average and save percentage.
• Skidmore ranks 15th in Division III in power play percentage (24.0), 16th in penalty kill percentage (86.6) and 17th in scoring defense (2.23).

BABSON IN THE TITLE GAME
• Babson is seeking its seventh conference championship and first since capturing back-to-back titles over Norwich in 2013 and 2014. The Beavers are playing in their 18th career title game, posting a 6-11 mark in the previous 17.
• Saturday will be Babson's first visit to the championship game since a 3-2 loss at UMass Boston in 2016 in the first year of the newly-named NEHC.
• The Beavers won four ECAC East championships between 2007 and 2014, defeating New England College in 2007, UMass Boston in 2009, and Norwich in 2013 and 2014.
• Babson also won two ECAC titles in 1984 and 1992 with victories over Bowdoin in 1984 and Connecticut in 1992.

BABSON IN CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES

SKIDMORE IN THE POSTSEASON
• The Thoroughbreds are playing in a conference championship game for the first time in program history.
• Skidmore's NEHC victory last Saturday at Hobart was the first in seven all-time conference semifinal appearances.
• The Thoroughbreds started as an independent program in 1982 before joining the ECAC in 1983. They were 3-7 in ECAC South playoff games from 1986 through 1998, and 3-16 in the ECAC East from 1998-2015, and 0-5 in the NEHC prior to this season.

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 21 games and accounted for 68 goals and 103 assists, and 12 have skated in at least 17 contests, totaling 72 goals and 110 assists. The two goalies have accounted for 13 of the 16 victories.
• The Babson senior class has posted a 61-18-7 record over the past four years for a 75.0 winning percentage.

POSTSEASON HONORS
• Postseason honors have begun to roll in for Black, who was named NEHC Player of the Year and first team all-conference.
• 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 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.

NCAA TOURNAMENT IMPLICATIONS
• The Green and White moved up two spots after last Saturday's win at Elmira and is now sixth in the Division III PairWise rankings, which are used to select and seed the NCAA Tournament.
• Entering the weekend, eight of the top 12 teams in the PairWise are still alive in their respective conference tournaments. Once the eight automatic bids are clinched, the top four teams in the rankings will earn at-large bids to fill out the NCAA Tournament field.

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. 6 Babson, No. 7 Hobart, and No. 10 Elmira are in the top 15, and Norwich and Skidmore are among others receiving votes.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson is 8-2-2 at home this season and 13-2-2 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 15-1-1 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 16-3-1 this season when scoring three goals or more, and 39-4-1 with at least three goals since the start of the 2019-20 season.
• Babson is 12-2-1 this season when scoring on the power play, and 31-5-2 with a PPG over the past three seasons.