NORTHFIELD, Vt.—Eighth-ranked Norwich University scored a pair of second-period goals four minutes apart and then held off a late comeback by No. 15 Babson College to register a 2-1 victory over the Beavers Saturday afternoon in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) men's ice hockey action inside the Kreitzberg Arena.

With the outcome, the Beavers head into the final weekend of the regular season at 14-8-2 overall and 9-6-2 in the NEHC while Norwich, which is 11-0-2 in its last 13 league games, moves to 17-4-2 overall and 13-1-2 in league play.

First-year Brendan Kennedy (Georgetown, Ontario) scored a late goal for the Beavers, with assists from classmates Tommy Rooney (Milton, Mass.) and Ryan Murphy (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.). Senior goalie Nolan Hildebrand (Penticton, B.C.) made 30 saves but took the loss to drop his record to 12-5-2 on the season.

Sophomore Alex Lewis (Moncton, N.B.) and junior Patrick O'Neal (Indiana, Pa.) tallied goals for the Cadets, with junior Joe Nagle (Weymouth, Mass.) and sophomores Holden Doggett (Oakville, Ont.) and Clark Kerner (Kansas City, Kan.) collecting assists. Senior Drennen Atherton (Winter Haven, Fla.) made 31 saves to record the victory in goal.

The scoreless first period was evenly played, with each team putting 12 shots on goals and both killing off a power play attempt. The stalemate continued the first eight minutes of the second frame until Doggett dumped the puck out of the Norwich zone into the neutral ice. Lewis snuck behind the Babson defense to collect the puck and skated in on a breakaway before beating Hildebrand in the upper left corner, stick side to open the scoring at 8:51 of the period.

Babson was whistled for a pair of penalties a couple minutes later, creating a 5-on-3 power play opportunity, and the Cadets capitalized. Nagle fired a shot on goal from the high slot that Hildebrand stopped but he couldn't control the rebound and O'Neal pounced on the loose puck and ripped the shot from the left side into an open goal to double the Norwich lead.

Play went back and forth in the third period with Hildebrand and Atherton keeping the puck out of the net. Babson pulled Hildebrand with two and a half minutes on the clock, and it paid off. Murphy collected a loose puck behind the Norwich goal, centered out in front, where Rooney kicked it toward Kennedy, who buried the puck past Atherton to cut the deficit to 2-1 at 17:53.

After the ensuing faceoff, Babson got Hildebrand out of the net again and got the puck into the Norwich zone but could not get any shots on goal and the Cadets held on for the win.

Shots on goal were even in all three periods, ending up at 32 apiece. Norwich went 1-for-3 on the power play and killed off all three Babson chances with the man advantage.

The Beavers wrap up the regular season next Saturday with a 4 p.m. faceoff against Southern Maine inside the Babson Skating Center. Norwich plays its final two games on the road next weekend with a showdown at Hobart on Friday and the last game Saturday at Elmira.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 27-47-8 all-time against Norwich in a series that dates back to the 1975-76 campaign.
• The last four games between the two teams have been decided by no more than one goal, with three overtime affairs.
• Babson lost for just the third time in 16 games this season (12-3-1) when allowing two goals or fewer and is 31-3-2 in that situation over the past three seasons.