No. 14 Men's Ice Hockey vs. Castleton
Friday, January 27 | 7 p.m.
Babson Skating Center | Babson Park, Mass.
No. 14 Men's Ice Hockey vs. Skidmore
Saturday, January 28 | 4 p.m.
Babson Skating Center | Babson Park, Mass.
SERIES HISTORY
vs. Castleton
• Babson is 24-5-5 all-time versus Castleton in a series that dates back to 2004.
• The Beavers are unbeaten over their last 15 games (13-0-2) against the Spartans, including 7-0-1 at the Babson Skating Center.
• The Green and White are 9-0-3 over the past 12 games against Castleton in Babson Park, including a 3-3 tie last season.
vs. Skidmore
• Babson is 38-6-3 all-time against the Thoroughbreds in a series that dates back to 1999.
• The Thoroughbreds held on for a 3-3 tie against Babson back in November in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. but are winless against the Beavers in the last 23 games (0-21-2) in the series.
• Over the last 11 games between the teams, six have been decided by a single goal and two others ended in a tie.
LAST MEETING
vs. Castleton
• First-years Tommy Rooney and Nolan Woudenberg notched their first career goals as No. 7 Babson posted a 4-1 victory over Castleton on November 19, 2022 inside Spartan Arena.
• Senior Chris Rooney and sophomore Wyatt George also scored for the Beavers, and graduate student Max Torrez collected two assists. Junior Grey Owens and first-years Danny Cavanagh and Sam Sibold picked up one assist apiece, and classmate Nate Mueller made 33 saves in goal to record the win.
• Sophomore Andrew Stefura scored the lone goal for the Spartans, with assists from classmate Zach Trempner and first-year Balint Mesterhazy. Sophomore Dominic Rodrigue made 32 saves in the setback.
vs. Skidmore
• Senior James Perullo tallied a goal and an assist, including a third-period short-handed goal that tied the game, as No. 7 Babson rallied from a 3-0 deficit to pull out a 3-3 draw against Skidmore on November 18, 2022 inside the Saratoga City Rink.
• Junior Colby Bailey and first-year Ian Driscoll scored power play goals for the Beavers, as all three scores for the Green and White came on special teams. Junior Thomas Kramer collected a pair of assists and first-year Ryan Murphy and senior Andrew Holland added one assist each. Senior Nolan Hildebrand made a career-high 42 saves in the deadlock.
• Sophomore Kaeden Patrick notched two goals for the Thoroughbreds and first-year Ryan Waltman scored once. Junior Everett Wardle produced two assists and junior Jacob Franczak, sophomores Danny Magnuson and Zach Lindewirth and first-year Connor Wood tallied one assist each. Junior goalie Tate Brandon made 38 saves in goal for the hosts.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 14 Babson (12-6-2, 7-4-2 NEHC) is looking to bounce back from a 3-1 loss at UMass Boston last Saturday inside the Edward T. Barry Ice Rink.
• Kramer scored the lone goal for Babson in the third period to pull the Beavers to within a goal, with assists from first-years Nolan Dion and Egan Schmitt. Hildebrand made 17 saves in goal in the setback.
• Kramer (7-12-19) is tied for third in the NEHC in scoring and tied for second in assists, while Murphy (7-7-14) is second on the team in scoring after posting his first career hat trick in last Friday's 3-1 victory at Johnson & Wales. Holland (6-6-12) has three power play goals and two short-handers, while Perullo (4-7-11) and Driscoll (4-7-11) are also solid contributors.
• Hildebrand (10-3-2, 1.78 GAA, .937 sv. pct.), who has started seven straight games and 10 of the last 11 for the Beavers, is second in the NEHC in victories and fourth in goals against average.
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
• Castleton (5-13-0, 3-8-0 NEHC) snapped a five-game losing streak with a 4-3 overtime victory at Skidmore on Tuesday in Saratoga Springs.
• Stefura played the part of the hero, scoring the game-tying goal with under two minutes to go in regulation before sealing the come-from-behind win with one second to go in overtime. Sophomore Bryce Irwin and Trempner tallied a goal and an assist each for the Spartans and first-year Zack Whittaker collected two assists. Senior Brandon Collett made 50 saves in the victory, including 22 in the third period.
• Stefura (8-5-13) and Irwin (2-11-13) share the team lead in scoring, with Stefura topping the NEHC with six power play goals. Brandon Picard (5-5-10) has also reached double figures in scoring for the Spartans.
• Collett (3-6-0, 3.50 GAA, .910 sv. pct.) has started nine of the team's 18 games, while Rodrigue (1-5-0, 4.22, .886) has six starts between the pipes for the Spartans.
SCOUTING THE THOROUGHBREDS
• Skidmore (11-5-2, 5-4-2 NEHC), which will play at Southern Maine on Friday, had a four-game unbeaten streak stopped in Tuesday's 4-3 overtime loss to Castleton.
• Wardle, Wood, and sophomore Zach Frisk accounted for the Skidmore goals, and six different Thoroughbreds had assists: Magnuson, Lindewirth, Waltman, senior Matthew Monk, junior Nick Cozzi, and first-year Sam Saccone. Brandon made 38 saves in goal in the loss.
• Wardle (6-11-17) is tied for sixth in the NEHC in scoring and tied for fifth in assists, while Patrick (10-6-16) is tied for fifth in goals and tied for third with four power play goals. Wood (4-11-15), Lindewirth (4-9-13) and Magnuson (1-12-13) are three more of the nine players who have reached double figures in scoring for the Thoroughbreds.
• Tate (8-3-2, 2.42 GAA, .925 sv. pct.) has 13 starts for the Thoroughbreds and is tied for fourth in the NEHC in victories. Sophomore Blaine Moore (3-2-0, 2.04, .937) has started five games in goal for Skidmore.
A LOOK AT THE NEHC
• With three weeks remaining in the regular season, Babson (7-4-2, 23 pts) holds down third place in the league standings with a four-point lead over Elmira, New England College and UMass Boston, who are all tied for fourth with 19 points.
• Skidmore (5-4-2, 18 pts) sits in seventh place, just one point out of the tie for fourth, while Castleton (3-8-0, 8 pts) is in ninth place, just one point shy of Southern Maine (3-10-0, 9 pts) for the final playoff spot with two games in hand.
• Norwich (10-1-2, 31 pts) and Hobart (10-2-0, 30 pts) are in a battle for first place in the NEHC standings and the top seed in the conference tournament.
WEEKLY HONOR
• Murphy became the third Babson first-year this season to be named NEHC Rookie of the Week when he received the honor on Monday, joining Schmitt (Oct. 31) and Will Holland (Nov. 7).
• Murphy was recognized after playing a part in all three Beaver goals with his first career hat trick in last Friday's 3-1 victory at Johnson & Wales.
POLL POSITION
• Babson, which is ranked 14th in this week's USCHO.com Division III men's poll, has been ranked in 39 straight polls going back to January 20, 2020 (there were no polls during the 2020-21 season).
• The NEHC (No. 2 Hobart, No. 8 Norwich, No. 14 Babson) is matched by only the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (No. 4 Adrian, No. 5 Aurora, No. 12 St. Norbert) and the SUNYAC (No. 7 Geneseo, No. 10 Oswego, No. 11 Plattsburgh) with three teams in the national poll while the Commonwealth Coast Conference (No. 3 Endicott, No. 6 Curry) has two.
BABSON VS. THE OPPONENTS
• Chris Rooney is the leading active Babson scorer against Castleton with five points (3g, 2a) in seven game against the Spartans. Torrez has collected four points (1g, 3a) in eight outings while Kramer (1g, 2a) and Andrew Holland (3a) have three points each.
• Kramer (2g, 3a) is the top active Beaver scorer against Skidmore with five points in four games. Senior Rory Casey (3g, 1a) has four points in five contests and Perullo (1g, 2a) has three points in six games.
• Hildebrand won his only start against Castleton with a 25-save shutout on January 30, 2021 in the season opener of the Covid-shortened 2020-21 season. He is 1-0-1 in two career starts vs. Skidmore with a 2.40 goals against average and a 93.0 save percentage (66 saves).
BUSY BEAVERS
• Kramer has at least one point in four straight games and six of his last seven outings going back to Dec. 30 and has produced nine points (4g, 5a) during this stretch.
• Dion has produced at least one assist in five of his last seven outings with six helpers in that streak.
• First-year Mike Stevens has a point in three of his last four and four of his last six appearances with three goals and an assist going back to December 30.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers are 6-2-1 at home this season and are 21-4-3 since the start of 2020-21 campaign at the Babson Skating Center.
• The Green and White are 12-2-1 this season and 30-5-2 since the start of last season when scoring at least three goals.
• Babson is 8-1 this season when taking a lead into the third period and is 63-1-2 when leading after two periods since 2017-18.
• The Beavers are 10-3-1 this season when scoring a power play goal and are 31-6-2 over the last three seasons when scoring with the man advantage.
A LOOK AHEAD
• The Beavers will make their last regular season road trip next weekend with a visit to New England College on February 3 and No. 8 Norwich on February 4.
