Men's Ice Hockey vs. Southern Maine
Saturday, February 11 | 4 p.m.
Babson Skating Center | Babson Park, Mass.
SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 35-9-1 all-time against Southern Maine in a series that dates back to 1995.
• The Beavers have won 21 of their last 22 games against the Huskies over the last decade with the lone loss coming in the 2020 NEHC Tournament quarterfinals in Babson Park.
• The Green and White has won 10 of the last 11 encounters against USM inside the Babson Skating Center since 2012.
LAST MEETING
• Senior Andrew Holland scored the go-ahead goal at 13:31 of the third period helping head coach Jamie Rice '90 record the 300th win of his career as No. 11 Babson defeated Southern Maine, 3-2, back on January 7 inside the USM Ice Arena.
• Junior Chris Rooney and first-year Mike Stevens each scored once and first-year Charlie Andriole picked up a pair of assists for the Beavers. Andrew Holland, sophomore Matt Cormier and first-years Nolan Dion and Will Holland all registered one assist, while senior goaltender Nolan Hildebrand stopped 30 of 32 shots in goal to record the win.
• Junior Austin Marini finished with a goal and an assist and senior Tanner McClure scored once for the Huskies. First-year Jakub Suran, junior Cole Ouellette and senior Curtis Judd all registered an assist and sophomore netminder Kyle Penton turned away 32 shots in the loss.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (14-8-2, 9-6-2 NEHC), which has alternated wins and losses over its last eight games, is coming off a 2-1 setback at No. 8 Norwich last Saturday in Northfield, Vt.
• First-year Brendan Kennedy scored a late goal for the Beavers in a comeback attempt, with assists from classmates Tommy Rooney and Ryan Murphy. Hildebrand made 30 saves but took the loss as the teams were tied in shots on goal, 32-32.
• Junior Thomas Kramer (8-15-23) is tied for fourth in the NEHC in scoring while Murphy (8-9-17) is second in the conference in scoring by first-years and tied for sixth among all skaters in plus/minus (+15). Senior James Perullo (4-9-13) is tied for fourth in the league in scoring by a defenseman.
• Hildebrand (12-5-2, 1.68 GAA, .939 sv. pct.), who has started 11 straight games and 14 of the last 15 for the Beavers, is second in the NEHC in victories and is ranked ninth in Division III in goals against average and 10th in save percentage.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
• Southern Maine (5-17-2, 4-13-0 NEHC) has dropped its last three games, including tough 3-1 setbacks last weekend at Norwich and New England College.
• The Huskies took a 1-0 lead into the third period against Norwich on a goal by sophomore Jeff Pollara before surrendering three unanswered goals, including an empty-netter. Penton made 28 saves in the loss. USM and NEC were tied 1-1 heading into the third period, with Judd scoring for the Huskies, but the Pilgrims scored twice in the final frame. Sophomore Mason Palmer made 32 saves in the loss.
• Judd (15-9-24) is second in the NEHC in goals and power play goals (5) and third in scoring while Marini (6-11-17) and Ouellette (2-11-13) share the team lead in assists.
• Penton (4-8-1, 2.92 GAA, .916 sv. pct.) and Palmer (1-9-1, 3.74 GAA, .899 sv. pct. in 10 starts) have shared goaltending duties for the Huskies. Penton has allowed three or fewer goals in 10 of his 14 starts and Palmer has done the same in four of his last five outings.
A LOOK AT THE NEHC
• Babson (9-6-2, 29 pts) enters the final weekend of the regular season in third place in the league standings with a one-point lead over fourth-place Elmira (9-6-1, 28 pts), which has a game in hand over the Beavers. UMass Boston (8-8-0, 25 pts) and Skidmore (7-7-2, 24 pts) also have a game in hand against Babson and are within striking distance.
• Southern Maine (4-13-0, 12 pts) trails Castleton (5-11-0, 14 pts) by two points for the final playoff berth, with the Spartans having a game in hand over the Huskies.
• No. 2 Hobart (14-2-0, 42 pts) is in a battle with No. 5 Norwich (13-1-2, 40 pts) for the NEHC regular season crown; the two teams face off against each other Friday in Geneva, N.Y.
STINGY DEFENSE
• The Beavers are ranked 11th in Division III in scoring defense, allowing just 2.04 goals per game.
• Babson has limited its opponents to 20 or fewer shots in four of the past six games.
BABSON VS. THE OPPONENTS
• Andrew Holland has racked up five points (2-3-5) in six appearances against USM, while Perullo has collected three assists in four games.
• Graduate student Max Torrez and Chris Rooney both have two goals in six games against the Huskies and junior Colby Bailey has a pair of assists in three career games.
BUSY BEAVERS
• Kennedy has scored a goal in three of the last four games and has a point in seven of his last 10, totaling four goals and five assists in that span.
• Kramer has at least a point in six of his last eight games (3g, 5a) going back to Jan. 13.
• Bailey has recorded at least one point in two of last four outings, including a season-high two points (1-1-2) in the win at NEC.
• Babson is 8-1-2 when Ryan Murphy records at least one point. He has six goals and four assists in the Beavers' last seven wins.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers are 7-3-1 at home this season and are 22-5-3 since the start of 2020-21 campaign at the Babson Skating Center.
• The Green and White are 12-2-1 this season when scoring the first goal and 46-6-2 over the past four campaigns when scoring the first goal of the game.
• Babson is 14-2-1 this season and 32-5-2 since the start of last season when scoring at least three goals.
• The Beavers are 10-1 this season when taking a lead into the third period and is 65-1-2 when leading after two periods since 2017-18.
• The Beavers are 11-3-1 this season when scoring a power play goal and are 32-6-2 over the last three seasons when scoring with the man advantage.
A LOOK AHEAD
• The NEHC playoffs begin next Saturday, February 18, with the top four seeds hosting the fifth through eighth seeds in a quarterfinal contest. The semifinals are Saturday, February 25 and the championship game is slated for Saturday, March 4.
