BABSON PARK, Mass.— Junior Tommy Rooney (Milton, Mass.) registered a career-high three points on two goals and an assist, including the third-period game-winning marker, as Babson College defeated the University of Southern Maine, 4-3, in a New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) men's ice hockey contest Saturday afternoon inside the Babson Skating Center.

The Beavers won their third consecutive game to improve to 4-3-0 overall and 3-3-0 in conference games while Southern Maine dropped its fourth contest in a row to fall to 1-4-0 overall and 0-4-0 in the NEHC.

Sophomore Joseph Kramer (Bridgewater, Mass.) finished with a goal and an assist for the Beavers, and junior Charlie Andriole (Branford, Conn.) scored for the second game in a row. Junior Danny Cavanagh (Warwick, R.I.) produced a pair of assists and classmates Mike Stevens (Massapequa, N.Y.) Nolan Dion (Marshfield, Mass.), and Nolan Woudenberg (Collegeville, Pa.) chipped in with one helper each. Sophomore Mason Rosado (Weddington, N.C.) made 18 saves record his third straight victory.

Senior Zach Desmarais (St. Cyrille, Que.) led the Huskies with a goal and an assist and sophomore Adrian Jubran (Knoxville, Tenn.) and first-year Gavin Simopoulos (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) scored once each. Senior Azam Jiwa (Calgary, Alb.) and sophomore Matt Sullivan (Hingham, Mass.) provided assists and senior Kyle Penton (Waltham, Mass.) made 39 saves in the setback.

The visitors grabbed an early lead with the first goal of the game just 95 seconds after the opening face-off. Desmarais got off a shot from the left side of a 3-on-2 for the Huskies, which was stopped by Rosado, but Jubran poked in the rebound for his first career goal. The Beavers had a pair of power play attempts in the opening stanza, including a 5-of-3 for 61 seconds, but the teams finished the frame with the 1-0 score.

Babson found the net twice in a two-minute span in the middle of the second period to take the lead. Rooney buried a rebound after Penton had made a stop on Cavanagh at 9:24, and Andriole ripped a shot past Penton from the slot after a centering pass from behind the net by Stevens at 11:15 to give the Beavers their first lead of the night.

The teams traded goals 31 second apart a couple of minutes later as Desmarais beat Rosado from the left face-off circle at 13:07 and Kramer punched in his own rebound near the left post at 13:38 as the Beavers regained the lead. The Huskies tied it up again late in the period when Sullivan kept the puck in the zone at the right point and fed Simopoulos in the slot, and he beat Rosado inside the left post to send the teams into the third period deadlocked at 3-3, despite Babson have a 17-5 shot advantage in the middle frame.

Rooney potted what would be the game-winner at the 2:18 mark, snapping a shot from the left circle inside the far post after being sent in on a partial breakaway on a pass from Cavanagh. Each team mustered 10 shots in the third period, including two by the Huskies after pulling Penton with 90 seconds remaining, but the game ended as a 4-3 final.

The Beavers finished with a 43-21 margin in shots on goal. Babson was 0-for-2 on the power play and the Huskies were 0-for-1.

Babson will place three consecutive non-conference road games next week against teams from the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), beginning Tuesday at Tufts at 7 p.m. Southern Maine returns home to host Wentworth next Saturday at 3 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is 39-9-2 all-time against Southern Maine in a series that dates back to 1995, including 25-1-1 over the past decade.
• The Green and White have won three straight one-goal games and are 4-1 in one-goal games this season.
• The Beavers have captured four out of their five home games this season.
• Rooney had four goals and one assist in 20 career games prior to producing three points on Saturday, although Saturday was his second career two-goal performance, having scored twice in a 6-3 win over Saint Michale's on December 29, 2023.