RUTLAND, Vt.— Sophomores Ian Driscoll (Middleton, Mass.) and Egan Schmitt (Schuylerville, N.Y.) finished with one goal and one assist each and Babson College scored four times on the power play on the way to defeating Vermont State University Castleton, 6-2, in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) men's ice hockey action Saturday afternoon at Spartan Arena. 

With the victory, Babson won for the third time in its last four games to improve to 12-9-2 overall and 10-5-1 in conference play while Castleton dropped its sixth straight game to fall to 7-16-0 overall and 4-12-0 in NEHC contests. 

The Beavers also got goals from junior Wyatt George (Mount Lebanon, Pa.) and sophomores Danny Cavanagh (Warwick, R.I.), Will Holland (Charlotte, N.C.) and Nolan Woudenberg (Collegeville, Pa.) in the victory. Sophomores Mike Stevens (Massapequa, N.Y.) and Charlie Andriole (Branford, Conn.) collected two assists each, classmates Nolan Dion (Marshfield, Mass.) and Ryan Murphy (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.) and junior Matt Cormier (Waltham, Mass.) added one helper apiece, and sophomore goalie Nate Mueller (Rogers, Minn.) made 20 saves in net to claim the win.

Graduate student Jeremy LaPlante (Montreal, Quebec) and junior Andrew Stefura (Boston, Mass.) accounted for the Castleton goals, while sophomore Logan Dapprich (Amherst, Mass.) and first-year Cam Reid (Kimberley, British Columbia) recorded assists for the Spartans. Junior Simon Brenter (Bodensdorf, Austria) had a busy afternoon in goal and finished with 35 saves in the setback.

The two teams traded two goals each in the opening frame. Babson jumped on top when Driscoll redirected a crossing pass from the right circle by Schmitt for his sixth of the season and the first power play marker of the afternoon at 8:21. The Spartans tied it up a little more than a minute later when Reid's shot from the point was stopped by Mueller but Stefura punched in the rebound at 9:27. The hosts took a lead three minutes later when LaPlante picked up a loose puck in neutral zone, went 1-on-1 against a Babson defender and fired a shot through his legs and past Mueller at 12:38.
 
Babson evened the score with another power play marker at 15:53 when George ripped a one-timer from the left face-off dot on a pass from the point by Dion for his eighth of the season.
 
The Beavers took the lead for good with a pair of second-periods goals. Cavanagh stole the puck on a Castleton clearing attempt and fired a quick slap shot from the left face-off circle through the goalie's pads for his second of the season, and Holland scored during a 5-on-3 power play with a slap shot from the top of the left circle that went just inside the right post glove side.
 
The Green and White pulled away with a pair of third-period strikes. A Castleton turnover led to a Babson odd-man rush, with Cormier dropping a pass in the high slot to Woudenberg, who ripped a shot from the edge of the right circle inside the left post for his first of the season at 6:18. The Beavers rounded out the scoring at the 8:40 mark on yet another power play, converting a pass from Stevens at the bottom of the left circle through the crease to Schmitt at the bottom of the right circle, who snapped a shot into the top of the net.

Babson played penalty-free hockey for the duration of the game while Castleton was whistled for 13 penalties, including 11 minors, which helped the Beavers finish with a 41-22 advantage in shots on goal.

Both teams wrap up the regular season next weekend, as Babson returns home to host No. 12 Norwich on Friday and New England College on Saturday while Castleton travels to No. 1 Hobart on Friday and No. 5 Elmira on Saturday.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 27-5-5 all-time against Castleton and are unbeaten in 18 straight games against the Spartans. 
• The four power play goals for Babson is a season high and the most in a game since scoring four times in a 6-1 win over Castleton on February 6, 2021.
• Dion has recorded assists is four of his last five games.
• The Green and White are 11-1-1 this season when scoring at least three goals and 28-3-2 over the past two season with at least three strikes.