BABSON PARK, Mass.— Junior Brendan Kennedy (Georgetown, Ontario) finished with a goal and two assists for a season-high three points and Babson College scored four times in the second period en route to a 7-5 win over visiting Vermont State University Castleton in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) action on Saturday afternoon inside the Babson Skating Center.

With its fifth straight win, Babson improves to 9-5-1 overall and 7-3 in conference play. Castleton has dropped its last two games to slip to 3-11-1 overall and 1-9 in the NEHC.

Sophomore Jimmy Fallon (Milton, Mass.) and first-year Raphael Marcoux (Quebec City, Quebec) recorded a goal and an assist and graduate student Johnny McElaney (Walpole, Mass.), juniors Egan Schmitt (Schuylerville, N.Y.), Will Holland (Charlotte, N.C.) and Mike Stevens (Massapequa, N.Y.) all provided a goal for the Beavers, who got points from 13 different players.

Sophomore Cam Reid (Kimberley, B.C.) scored a pair of third period goals for the Spartans in a comeback attempt, and classmate Aiden Robson (Kelowna, B.C.), first-year Emmett McHardy (Vancouver, B.C.) and sophomore (Charlton, Mass.) scored once each. Junior Jackson Edwards (Toronto, Ont.) and first-year Trevor Castino (Woodland Hills, Calif.) collected two assists each in the setback.

Holland gave the Green and White a 1-0 lead just over four minutes into the contest when he buried a loose puck from the slot for his first goal of the season. Robson scored through traffic from the blue line along the left boards to tie the game for Castleton at the 9:49 mark, but Stevens notched his second goal of the year in transition at 14:39 and Fallon tallied a wrap-around goal at 18:24 to give the Beavers a 3-1 advantage.

McHardy sliced the Spartans deficit in half 16 seconds before the first intermission and the teams traded goals over the first three minutes of the second period before Babson created separation with three unanswered goals to end the frame. Marcoux potted the first of his career at the 4:30 mark to make it 5-3, Kennedy put away a rebound in front four minutes later and McElaney made it 7-3 with a blast from the left circle with 2:45 left in the period.

The Beavers were whistled for a slashing penalty at the end of the second and Castleton took advantage as Reid scored the first of his two goals off a feed from Edwards just 1:32 into the third. Reid notched his second goal of the contest at 7:54 when he jammed home his own rebound to make it 7-5. The Babson defense shut things down from there though, blocking four shots while Mueller stopped the final five he faced to secure the win.

Kennedy scored his team-leading eighth goal of the year at the 10:54 mark of the third, weaving through multiple Castleton defenders before ripping a shot past Ward from the left circle, and Murphy put the finishing touches on the win with an empty netter at 17:37.

Babson finished with a 46-26 advantage in shots on goal. Castleton finished 1-for-2 on the power play and killed off the lone Babson opportunity with the man advantage.

Both teams return to action next Friday as Babson travels to Albertus Magnus for a 5 p.m. face-off, while Castleton visits Norwich at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are unbeaten over their last 20 games (18-0-2) against the Spartans and own a 29-5-5 all-time lead versus Castleton in a series that dates back to 2004.
• The Green and White extended their home winning streak to six games and improved to 7-1 at the Babson Skating Center this season.
• Kennedy has scored a goal in three straight games for the Beavers, and McElaney finished with goals in both games on the weekend, his first two of the season.