PINE VALLEY, N.Y.—Senior Jared Smith (Rochester, N.Y.) tallied a goal and an assist and sophomore Kyle Curtin (St. George, Ontario) made 30 saves as No. 2 Elmira College skated past Babson College, 4-1, in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) men's ice hockey action Saturday afternoon inside the Murray Athletic Center.

With the loss, the Beavers fell for the third time in their last four games to a nationally-ranked team, dropping to 9-8-2 overall and 7-4-1 in the NEHC while Elmira finished off a three-point weekend (1-0-1) and improved to 15-3-1 overall and 8-3-1 in league play.

Junior Matt Cormier (Waltham, Mass.) scored the lone goal for the Beavers with an assist from sophomores Danny Cavanagh (Warwick, R.I.) and Nolan Dion (Marshfield, Mass.). First-year goalie Mason Rosado (Weddington, N.C.) made 20 saves in goal on 23 shots but took the loss.

Seniors Ryan Reifler (Binghamton, N.Y.), Jordan Gonzalez (Hamburg, N.Y.), and Amadeo Mastrangeli (Richmond Hill, Ontario) also scored goals for the Soaring Eagles, and classmates Nicholas Domitrovic (Ottawa, Ontario), Janis Vizbelis (Riga, Latvia), and Chance Gorman (Flemington, N.J.) as well as juniors Joel Pavey (Sarnia, Ontario) and Cole Tucker (Toronto, Ontario) registered assists.

The Beavers broke out on top in the first three minutes of the game as Cormier and Cavanagh worked a give and go along the right side and Cormier snapped a wrist shot past Curtin to open the scoring at 2:55. The Green and White had a 15-5 advantage in shots in the opening frame and took the 1-0 into the second period.

Elmira turned the tables in the middle stanza, outshooting the visitors 11-3 and scoring a pair of goals to take the lead. Smith converted a power play goal at 6:22, knocking a rebound into an open net after Rosado made a save on a shot from the right side. Reifler put the home team in the lead at 16:07 after the Soaring Eagles caused a turnover at the Babson blue line and Reifler rifled a shot past Rosado from the right face-off circle.

Gonzalez gave Elmira a two-goal lead at 4:27 of the third period, scoring on a shot from the point that snuck through Rosado. Mastrangeli rounded out the scoring with an empty-net goal with six seconds remaining.

Babson finished with a 31-24 advantage in shots on goal but went 0-for-4 on the power play while Elmira was 1-for-2 with the man advantage.

The Beavers return home after six straight road games to play their first home contest since December 2 on Friday against UMass Boston at the Babson Skating Center. Elmira hosts Hobart on Friday in the first of a home-and-home set against the rival Statesmen.

GAME NOTES
• Babson had a four-game win streak against Elmira snapped and is now 9-7-0 all-time against the Soaring Eagles in a series that dates back to 1977-78.
• The Beavers are 2-5-0 against nationally-ranked teams this season, including 1-1 vs. Elmira.
• The Green and White lost for just the third time in nine games this season when scoring the first goal of the game.