BABSON PARK, Mass.—Sophomore Ian Driscoll (Middleton, Mass.) scored a pair of goals as Babson College handed No. 10 Elmira College its first defeat of the season with a 5-3 victory over the Soaring Eagles in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) action Friday evening inside the Babson Skating Center.

With the win, Babson earned its first victory of the season and improved to 1-3-1 overall and 1-0-1 in the NEHC while Elmira drops to 4-1-0 overall and 2-1-0 in league play.

Sophomore Brendan Kennedy (Georgetown, Ontario) scored once for the Beavers and first-years CJ Beals (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Joseph Kramer (Bridgewater, Mass.) registered their first career goals in the win. Sophomores Charlie Andriole (Branford, Conn.) and Ryan Murphy (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.) collected two assists apiece and senior Thomas Kramer (Bridgewater, Mass.), junior Wyatt George (Mount Lebanon, Pa.), and sophomores Will Holland (Charlotte, N.C.) and Mike Stevens (Massapequa, N.Y.) tallied one helper each. Sophomore Nate Mueller (Rogers, Minn.) made 27 saves in goal in the win.

Senior Shane Haviland (Sea Girt, N.J.) scored a pair of goals for the visitors and classmate Nicholas Domitrovic (Ottawa, Ontario) tallied one marker in the setback. Seniors Daniel Dimon (Elmira, N.Y.), Bailey Krawczyk (Elmira, N.Y.) and Amadeo Mastrangeli (Richmond Hill, Ontario) produced one assist each while graduate student goalie Jeffrey Zero (Clifton Township, Pa.) made 14 saves in 30 minutes in his first appearance of the season in relief of sophomore Kyle Curtin (St. George, Ontatrio), who finished with 10 saves in 27 minutes between the pipes.

Elmira carried the play early on in the game, but it was Babson that got on the board first. Kennedy tipped in a shot by Andriole from the left boards up and under the cross bar past Curtin for his first of the season at 11:45. Beals doubled the lead less than three minutes later with his first career goal, stealing the puck along the right boards and going in alone on the right goal line and sneaking a shot through Curtin's pads at 14:22.

The Beavers extended their lead to 3-0 seven minutes into the second period as Driscoll snapped a shot from a tough angle along the right boards near the end line that went in off the skate of Curtin. That sent Curtin to the bench in favor of Zero but also ignited an Elmira rally.

The Soaring Eagles got back in the game and tied the score with three goals in a span of two minutes and 38 seconds, including a power play marker. Haviland intercepted a clear attempt by Mueller and dumped the puck into an empty net from the left circle at 7:45, and Domitrovic punched in a rebound for a power play goal at 9:23, and Haviland lifted a rebound over Mueller's shoulder from the right side to even the score at 10:23 of the second period.

The score remained tied until midway through the third period when the Beavers capitalized on a power play attempt as Driscoll buried a rebound from the right circle for his second of the game at 8:33. Joseph Kramer added an insurance marker with his first career goal, finishing off a pass from his brother for a two-goal lead at 11:34.

Elmira pulled Zero late in the third and played with an extra skater for the final 2:25 of the game but could not produce any more offense as Babson held on for the win.

The visitors finished with a narrow 30-29 advantage in shots on goal. Babson went 1-for-4 on the power play while Elmira was 1-for-3 with the man advantage.

Both teams will play NEHC games again on Saturday at 4 p.m. as Babson hosts No. 1 Hobart and Elmira moves on to visit Southern Maine.

GAME NOTES
• Babson has won four in a row over Elmira and is now 9-6-0 all-time against the Soaring Eagles in a series that dates back to 1977-78.
• Driscoll produced his first career two-goal game and his fourth multi-point contest.
• Sophomore Egan Schmitt (Schuylerville, N.Y.) was Babson's top face-off man, winning 13 of 17 attempts at the dot.