No. 12 Men's Ice Hockey at Johnson & Wales
Friday, January 20 | 7 p.m.
New England Sports Village | Attleboro, Mass.
No. 12 Men's Ice Hockey at UMass Boston
Saturday, January 21 | 4 p.m.
Edward T. Barry Ice Rink | Boston, Mass.
SERIES HISTORY
vs. Johnson & Wales
• Babson is unbeaten in seven career games versus Johnson & Wales in a series that dates back to 2018, outscoring the Wildcats 46-11.
• The Beavers doubled up the Wildcats in the previous meeting this year, 6-3, after taking both games last season by at least three goals.
• The Green and White have won all three games over JWU at the New England Sports Village, including last year's 6-0 verdict.
vs. UMass Boston
• Babson is 49-21-6 all-time against UMass Boston in a series that dates back to the 1978-79 season.
• The Beavers earned a 5-2 victory over the Beacons earlier this season after the Beacons captured a pair of one-goal games from the Green and White last season.
• Over the last 20 games between the programs, eight have been decided by a single goal while eight have finished with at least a three-goal margin.
LAST MEETING
vs. Johnson & Wales
• Senior Andrew Holland recorded his first career hat trick as No. 8 Babson built a 5-0 lead on the way to a 6-3 victory over Johnson & Wales on November 12, 2022 inside the Babson Skating Center.
• First-years Sam Sibold, Charlie Andriole and Ryan Murphy all scored their first career goal for the Beavers in the win. Graduate student Max Torrez and first-year Ian Driscoll collected two assists each, and first-year Nate Mueller recorded his first career victory in goal, finishing with 28 saves.
• Senior Ryo Namiki led the Wildcats with a goal and an assist, and sophomores Kadyn Fennell and Connor Blanchard scored one goal each. Sophomore Jacob Perrin made 43 saves in goal in the loss.
vs. UMass Boston
• Junior Thomas Kramer and first-year Egan Schmitt each tallied a goal and an assist as No. 8 Babson took a 5-0 lead on the way to a 5-2 victory over UMass Boston on November 11, 2022 inside the Babson Skating Center.
• Senior James Perullo and first-years Mike Stevens and Driscoll scored for the Beavers, with Driscoll potting his first collegiate goal. Senior Nolan Hildebrand made 27 saves in goal in the win.
• First-year Mike Manzo scored his first collegiate goal in the third period to put the Beacons on the board and classmate Grady Friedman followed with his fourth of the season in the setback. Senior goalie Sam Best made 21 saves on 25 shots in the first 40 minutes and graduate student Liam Murray stopped two of the three shots he faced in the third period.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 12 Babson (11-5-2, 6-3-2 NEHC) had a four-game winning streak snapped with last Saturday's 4-1 home loss to No. 1 Hobart. It was a 2-1 game late in the third period before the Statesmen tallied a pair of late empty-net goals.
• First-year Brendan Kennedy scored an early first-period goal for the Beavers in the loss. Kramer, who assisted on the play, also scored the go-ahead goal in the second period of Friday's 4-2 victory over Elmira and Driscoll added a goal and an assist in the win.
• Kramer (6-11-17) is tied for fourth in the NEHC in scoring and tied for second in assists, while Andrew Holland (6-6-12) has three power play goals and two short-handers. Murphy (4-7-11) is third on the team and tops among the 13 first-year skaters on the roster, followed closely by Driscoll (4-6-10).
• Hildebrand (9-2-2, 1.82 GAA, .938 sv. pct.), who has started five straight games and eight of the last nine for the Beavers, is second in the NEHC in victories and fourth in goals against average.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
• Johnson & Wales (2-13-1, 1-9-0 NEHC) is coming off a pair of NEHC road losses last weekend at New England College on Friday, 6-2, and No. 5 Norwich on Saturday, 7-1.
• Junior Brent Rickett and first-year Brendan Doyle each found the back of the net for the Wildcats in the loss at NEC, while junior Brendan Shandley scored in the setback at Norwich. Sophomore Jacob Perrin had a busy weekend between the pipes, making 45 saves at NEC and 49 stops at Norwich.
• Doyle (6-4-10) leads the team in scoring and has points in four of his last five outings (1-3-4). Shandley (5-4-9) and Rickett (4-4-8) are solid contributors the Wildcats offense, as is junior Hayden Haldane (5-2-7).
• Perrin (4.21 GAA, .896 sv. pct.) has started all 16 games for the Wildcats and leads the conference in minutes played. He has made at least 40 saves in five contests this winter.
SCOUTING THE BEACONS
• UMass Boston (7-10-0, 4-6-0 NEHC), which will host Southern Maine on Friday, split its two games last weekend with a 1-0 overtime loss on Friday at No. 5 Norwich and a 3-1 victory at New England College on Saturday.
• Junior Evan Googins tallied a goal and an assist in the win over NEC, while sophomore Pat Keegan and first-year Mike Manzo scored once each and junior Blake Colman collected two assists. First-year goalie Darius Bell got his first start in net and made 29 saves on 30 shots in the win.
• Manzo (4-11-15) leads the team in plus/minus (+9) while Googins (7-4-11) is the top goal-scorer for the Beacons and tops the NEHC with five power play goals. First-year Grady Friedman (5-3-8) and Colman (2-6-8) are also solid contributors.
• Senior Sam Best (6-7-0, 2.52 GAA, .916 sv. pct.), who has started 13 of the team's 17 games, made 32 saves in the tough-luck overtime loss last Friday at Norwich.
A LOOK AT THE NEHC
• Babson (6-3-2, 20 pts) enters the weekend in third place in the league standings with a four-point lead over Elmira (5-4-1, 16 pts) and New England College (5-5-1, 16 pts).
• Norwich (9-1-1, 27 pts) and Hobart (9-1-0, 27 pts) share the top spot in the NEHC standings, with the Statesmen holding a game in hand. The Cadets handed the Statemen their only loss this season, 2-1, and the teams will meet again on February 10.
POLL POSITION
• Babson, which is ranked 12th in this week's USCHO.com Division III men's poll, has been ranked in 38 straight polls going back to January 20, 2020 (there were no polls during the 2020-21 season).
• The NEHC (No. 1 Hobart, No. 5 Norwich, No. 12 Babson) is matched by only the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (No. 3 Adrian, No. 7 Aurora, No. 9 St. Norbert) and the SUNYAC (No. 6 Oswego, No. 8 Geneseo, No. 13 Plattsburgh) with three teams in the national poll while the Commonwealth Coast Conference (No. 4 Endicott, No. 10 Curry) has two.
BABSON VS. THE OPPONENTS
• Torrez (5-3-8) and Andrew Holland (4-4-8) have each produced eight points in five career games against Johnson & Wales, while Perullo has four assists in five outings. Kramer (1-2-3) and Rooney (0-3-3) have three points apiece vs. the Wildcats.
• Holland (2-1-3 in 4 games) and Bailey (1-2-3 in 2 games) are the top active scorers against UMB.
BUSY BEAVERS
• Kramer has at least a point in six of the last eight games going back to Dec. 2 and has produced nine points (4g, 5a) during this stretch.
• Cormier has at least one point in five of his last six outings, notching a goal and five assists in that span.
• First-year Nolan Dion had a four-game assist streak (0-5-5) snapped in the loss to Hobart.
• Over the last five games the line of Murphy (2-3-5), Kramer (3-4-7) and Kennedy (1-5-6) has combined for six goals, 12 assists and 18 points.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers are 5-3-1 on the road this season and are 18-7-1 since the start of 2020-21 campaign away from the Babson Skating Center.
• The Green and White are 10-2-1 this season and 28-5-2 since the start of last season when scoring at least three goals.
• Babson is 7-1 this season when taking a lead into the third period and is 62-1-2 when leading after two periods since 2017-18.
• The Beavers are 8-2-1 this season when scoring a power play goal and are 29-5-2 over the last three seasons when scoring with the man advantage.
A LOOK AHEAD
• The Beavers wrap up the month of January with a pair of conference games at the Babson Skating Center, hosting Castleton on Jan. 27 and Skidmore on Jan. 28 in a rematch of last year's NEHC tournament title game.
