BABSON PARK, Mass.— Sophomore defenseman Nolan Dion (Marshfield, Mass.) picked an excellent time for his first goal of the season, scoring with 39 seconds remaining in regulation to break a 3-3 tie and send Babson College past New England College, 4-3, in the New England Hockey England (NEHC) men's ice hockey regular season finale inside Babson Skating Center.

With the win, Babson has won five out of its last six games to wind up the regular season at 14-9-2 overall and 12-5-1 in the NEHC while NEC dropped its third straight and wraps up its season at 4-20-1 overall and 2-15-1 in league play.

Sophomore Will Holland (Charlotte, N.C.) finished with a goal and an assist for the Beavers and sophomore Egan Schmitt (Schuylerville, N.Y.) and first-year Jimmy Fallon (Milton, Mass.) scored once each. Senior Thomas Kramer (Bridgewater, Mass.) collected two assists in a strong senior night performance while sophomores Mike Stevens (Massapequa, N.Y.) and Ian Driscoll (Middleton, Mass.) and juniors Matt Cormier (Waltham, Mass.) and Wyatt George (Mount Lebanon, Pa.) tallied one helper each. First-year Mason Rosado (Weddington, N.C.) made 32 saves in goal to record his second win on the weekend.

Senior Tim Lopez (Fort Collins, Colo.) scored his first two goals of the season for the Pilgrims, including a key third-period strike that tied the score at 3-3 with 3:11 remaining. First-year Shane Adler (Dallas, Texas) scored one goal, sophomore Kam Hellman (Macomb, Mich.) registered two assists and first-year Dylan Duckson (Mahtomedi, Minn.), junior Connor Lefkof (Frisco, Texas), and senior Zach Nelson (Hudson, Mass.) produced one assist apiece. Senior Kai Tomita (Misawa, Japan) made 25 saves in goal but shouldered the loss.

Babson scored the only goal of the first period while on the power play as Schmitt tipped in a shot from the point by Holland at 9:23. The Pilgrims answered early in the second period with two goals in a span of two minutes and six seconds. Duckson was attacking the Beaver zone on the right side before feeding Adler on the left, who buried a shot into an open net at 2:34, and Lopez converted a 2-on-1 with Hellman, burying a shot from the left side at 4:40 for a 2-1 lead.

The Pilgrims maintained the one-goal margin until the third period when Holland knotted the score for Babson with a power play goal from the right circle at 6:34. The Beavers took the lead less than two minutes later when Fallon charged the net along the left end line and lifted a backhander past Tomita into the top right corner at 7:53.

The upset-minded Pilgrims would not give up, evening the score with 3:11 remaining when Hellman fed Lopez in the slot, and he snapped a wrister inside the right post to tie the score at 3-3.

With time winding down in the final minute and overtime approaching, Dion took a feed from Kramer at the top of the left circle, made a deke around a defender at the face-off dot and ripped a shot into the upper right corner for what turned out to be the game-winner.

The visitors finished with a 35-29 advantage in shots on goal. The Beavers went 2-for-3 on the power play while killing off all three Pilgrim attempts with the man advantage.

The Green and White finished in a tie for fourth place in the NEHC with Elmira, both teams with 34 points. The Soaring Eagles won the tiebreaker with more regulation wins than the Beavers, earning the fourth seed, and will host fifth-seeded Babson next Saturday at 7 p.m. in Pine Valley, N.Y.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is 49-24-8 all-time against New England College in a series that dates back to 1977.
• Dion became the 20th different player to score a goal for Babson this season.
• The Beavers are 8-2-2 on home ice this season and 17-5-3 at the Babson Skating Center over the past two seasons.
• The Green and White have scored at least one power play goal in five of their last six games, converting 9-of-24 (.375) in that span.