GENEVA, N.Y.— No. 1-ranked Hobart College scored three goals in a span of 86 seconds late in the second period and sophomore Damon Beaver (Whitby, Ontario) made 25 saves for his program-record 12th career shutout as the Statesmen posted a 5-0 victory over Babson College in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) men's hockey action Friday evening inside the The Cooler.

With the loss, Babson fell for the second time in its last three games to drop to 9-7-2 overall and 7-3-1 in the league play while Hobart, 11-0-1 in its last 12 games, improved to 15-2-1 overall and 9-1-1 in the NEHC. The only conference loss for Hobart this season came in Babson Park back on November 11.

Sophomore Nate Mueller (Rogers, Minn.) was good for 34 saves in the Beaver goal but shouldered the loss. Senior Thomas Kramer (Bridgewater, Mass.) led the Green and White with five shots on goal and sophomores Egan Schmitt (Schuylerville, N.Y.) and Charlie Andriole (Branford, Conn.) and first-year Jimmy Fallon (Milton, Mass.) got off three shots each.

Sophomore Tristan Fasig (Sherman, Conn.) led the Statesmen with a pair of goals while junior Luke Aquaro (Yardley, Pa.) and sophomores Kahlil Fontana (Duncan, British Columbia) and Ignat Belov (Minsk, Belarus) added one goal each. First-years Conor Lally (Scarborough, Maine) and Bauer Morrissey (Skaneateles, N.Y.) each collected a pair of assists, and seniors Austin Mourar (Spring City, Pa.), Kevin Lassman (Parkland, Fla.), and Jared Patterson (Greely, Ontario) and sophomores Tanner Hartman (Chicago, Ill.) and Tanner Daniels (Edinboro, Pa.), contributed one assist each.

After a scoreless first period that saw the hosts outshoot the Beavers, 15-7, Hobart got on the board with a power play goal just 54 seconds into the second frame. Aquaro skated down left side, went around the Babson defense and snapped a shot from left faceoff circle over Mueller's shoulder into the top right corner of the net.

Babson came to life with seven shots on its fourth power play opportunity later in the second period but could not put one past Beaver. Shortly after the Green and White killed off a Hobart power play, the Statesmen struck to double their lead when Fontana pounced on a loose puck in front of the Babson goal and buried it past Mueller at 17:31.

Belov extended the Hobart margin to 3-0 just 49 seconds later on a one-timer from the left circle on a feed from Hartman, and Fasig potted his first goal 36 seconds after that from the slot on a pass from Daniels on the right side. That gave the hosts a 4-0 lead going into the final frame.

The Beavers had two more power play chances in the final frame but could not capitalize on a Statesman top-ranked penalty kill unit that has not given up a power play goal in 52 chances this season. Fasig rounded out the scoring with a power play goal of his own in the final two minutes, ripping a one-timer from the right point through traffic past Mueller.

Hobart finished with a 39-25 advantage in shots on goal and went 2-for-6 on the power play while Babson was 0-for-6 with the man advantage.

Both teams play again on Saturday at 4 p.m. as Babson travels to No. 2 Elmira and Hobart hosts Southern Maine.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is 12-10-5 all-time against the Statesmen in a series that dates back to the 1987-88 season.
• The Beavers are 2-4-0 against nationally-ranked teams this season, with wins over No. 1 Hobart and No. 10 Elmira while taking losses to No. 8 Plymouth State in overtime, No. 13 Skidmore, No. 11 Norwich before Friday night's setback.
• The Green and White were blanked for just the second time in their last 87 games going back to February 1, 2020.