BABSON PARK, Mass.— Junior Rory Casey (Newton, Mass.) scored a pair of breakaway goals, including an insurance tally in the third period, and No. 6-ranked and fourth-seeded Babson College captured the 2022 New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) men's ice hockey championship with a 5-3 triumph over sixth-seeded Skidmore College Saturday evening before a capacity crowd inside the Babson Skating Center.

With the victory, the Beavers captured the seventh conference championship in program history and the first since back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014. Babson posted its sixth straight victory to improve to 19-5-2 on the season, and receives the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Championships. The NCAA Tournament pairings will be announced on Monday at 10 a.m. on ncaa.com.

Skidmore's bid for an NEHC title fell short after upset victories in the quarterfinals and semifinals, and the Thoroughbreds finish the season at 16-10-2 overall.

Babson got one goal and one assist from senior Ryan Black (Pomfret, Conn.), who was named Tournament Most Valuable Player. He was joined on the All-Tournament Team by classmates Mike Egan (Billerica, Mass.), who scored once, and John Corrigan (Stoneham, Mass.) and graduate student Brad Arvanitis (Holliston, Mass.), who made 23 saves in goal.

Also contributing to the Beaver scoring was first-year Wyatt George (Mount Lebanon, Pa.) with one goal, and graduate student Paul Boutoussov (Dana Point, Calif.), seniors Cam Schmitt (Andover, Mass.) and Cole Sanderson (Basking Ridge, N.J.), junior James Perullo (Rever, Mass.), and first-year Matt Cormier (Waltham, Mass.) with one assist apiece.

Senior Mike Gelatt (Middletown. N.J.) led the Thoroughbreds with two goals and earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team, along with classmate Austin Rook (Shrewsbury, Mass.). Sophomore Everett Wardle (Hewlett, N.Y.) tallied a goal and an assist, and first-year Danny Magnuson (Sunfish Lake, Minn.) and Kaeden Patrick (Vancouver, B.C.) junior Matthew Monk (Langley, B.C.) and senior Reid Russell (Napanee, Ont.) recorded one assist each.

Sophomore goalie Tate Brandon (Irvington, N.Y.) wrapped up his superb season in goal for Skidmore by making 38, many acrobatic, saves. Over three playoff games, Brandon racked up 109 saves.

Skidmore went ahead at the 4:15 mark of the opening period when Gelatt fired a shot from the right faceoff dot that stayed inside the left post. Babson got the equalizer just over a minute later with a power play goal by George from Schmitt and Boutoussov, just 15 seconds elapsed on its first power play. The Beavers took the lead with 2:07 remaining in the first when Casey took advantage of a Skidmore turnover and scored on a breakaway.
 
Egan made it 3-1 Babson from Sanderson and Black 2:16 into the second period on a rebound. Gelatt got his second to bring Skidmore back to within one on a tip after Wardle won a clean faceoff back to Monk on the point.
 
Babson regained its two-goal lead exactly two minutes later when Black converted on a short breakaway. Wardle cleaned up a loose puck in front to make it 4-3 Babson early in the third period on the power play. Babson one last time answered promptly, as Casey added insurance from Cormier at 4:35 of the third on another breakaway.

Skidmore pulled Brandon on a power play with a little over two minutes remaining but was unable to mount another comeback bid.

Babson finished the game with a 43-26 advantage in shots on goal. Both teams went 1-for-4 on the power play.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is 38-6-2 all-time against the Thoroughbreds in a series that dates back to 1999, and 21-0-1 in its last 22 games against Skidmore.
• The Beavers are now 7-11 all-time in conference championship games. Their previous league titles came in 1984, 1992, 2007, 2009, 2013, and 2014.
• Babson is 9-2-2 at home this season and 14-2-2 over the past two seasons.
• The Green and White are now 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.
• 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.