SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt.— Junior Wyatt George (Mount Lebanon, Pa.) tallied his first career hat trick and sophomore Tommy Rooney (Milton, Mass.) added a pair of goals as Babson College doubled up Saint Michael's College, 6-3, in non-conference men's ice hockey action Friday afternoon inside Cairns Arena.

With the win, Babson improved to 7-5-2 overall while St. Mike's dropped its sixth game in a row and fell to 7-7-0 on the season.

Sophomore Cam Joslin (Cohasset, Mass.) rounded out the list of goal scorers for Babson while classmate Ian Driscoll (Middleton, Mass.) collected a career-high three assists.  Fellow sophomores Ryan Murphy (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.) and Brendan Kennedy (Georgetown, Ontario) added two helpers each, and senior Colby Bailey (Southborough, Mass.), junior Matt Cormier (Waltham, Mass.) and sophomores Nolan Dion (Marshfield, Mass.) and Charlie Andriole (Branford, Conn.) produced one assist apiece. Sophomore Nate Mueller (Rogers, Minn.) made 25 saves in goal to record the win.

Sophomore Quinn McCarthy (Melrose, Mass.) scored a pair of goals to lead the Purple Knights and first-year Brayden Naumann (Boston, Mass.) scored once in the setback. Sophomore Matti Tauriainen (Grapevine, Texas), first-year Ty Bloom (Helena, Mont.), and juniors Brennan McFarland (Greeley, Colo.) and Ryland Dukes (Nashville, Tenn.) recorded one assist each and senior Marshall Murphy (Little Canada, Minn.) made 35 saves in goal.

The Beavers scored the only two goals of the first period, one early and one late. Rooney pounced on a rebound off a shot by Kennedy and flipped a backhander into an open net at 1:25, and George snapped a wrist shot from the slot past a screened Murphy at 18:57 for a 2-0 Babson lead.

George used a second-period power play to extend the Babson lead to 3-0, slapping home a pass from Driscoll from the slot at 10:34 for his second of the game. The Purple Knights rallied with back-to-back goals to cut the deficit to 3-2 as Naumann deflected a shot by Dukes from the left side past Mueller at 12:47 and McCarthy intercepted a Babson clear attempt on the right side and fired a shot from below the right circle that ended up in the back of the net at 16:50. The Beavers regained the two-goal lead in the final minute of the second frame when Rooney converted his second goal of the game from the high slot on a feed from Kennedy at 19:06.

The hosts scored the first goal of the third period to pull to within two goals again as McCarthy converted a 2-on-1 with Tauriainen for his second of the game at 5:21. George finished off his hat trick four minutes later, redirecting a pass from Andriole near the right post as Babson regained the two-goal lead, and Joslin rounded out the scoring from the right face-off circle with 4:09 remaining in the game to seal the win.

Babson finished with a 41-28 advantage in shots on goal. The Beavers converted one of four power play opportunities and were not whistled for a penalty in the game.

The Green and White will play New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) action the rest of the way, beginning next Friday at New England College (7 p.m.) The Purple Knights continue with the middle two games of their six-game homestand next weekend against SUNY Potsdam.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is 25-3-1 all-time against the Purple Knights in a series that dates back to the 1998-99 season, including 10-1-1 in South Burlington.
• The Beavers have scored a power play goal in four of their last five games and at least one in six of their last eight outings.
• The Green and White are 7-1-1 this season when scoring at least three goals.