Men's Ice Hockey at Fitchburg State
Friday, October 31 | 6 p.m.
Wallace Civic Center | Fitchburg, Mass.

Men's Ice Hockey vs. Fitchburg State
Saturday, November 1 | 4 p.m.
Babson Skating Center | Babson Park, Mass.

WHAT TO KNOW
• The puck drops on the 2025-26 Babson College men's ice hockey season when the Beavers face off against Fitchburg State in a home-and-home series Friday in Fitchburg and Saturday at the Babson Skating Center.
• The Green and White will play the two non-conference games vs. the Falcons before beginning the inaugural campaign in the Little East Conference on November 7-8.

PLAY FOR JAKE: A SALUTE TO JAKE THIBEAULT
• The two-game series will be a tribute to Babson senior Jake Thibeault, a Fitchburg native who suffered two broken vertebrae and partial paralysis in an on-ice collision on September 4, 2021, while playing for Milton Academy.
• The teams will be wearing special jerseys in support of Jake and all money raised will go to the Thomas E. Smith Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to better the lives of those affected by and living with spinal cord injury (SCI) and paralysis.
• Thibeault started his first semester at Babson, the only college he applied to, in the fall of 2022, and has been an inspirational member of the hockey program.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson leads Fitchburg State 3-0-0 in the all-time series that dates back to the 1970-71 season.
• The Beavers have won all three games by at least five goals.
• This weekend's games will be the first in the series since an 11-1 victory in the Babson Invitational semifinals in November of 2003.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson returns 21 players from a team that finished 13-11-2 overall and 11-8-1 in the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) in 2024-25. The Beavers were upset in the NEHC quarterfinals by New England College, 2-0, at the Babson Skating Center.
• The Green and White feature a veteran roster that includes 15 seniors and five juniors along with a pair of sophomores and four first-years under head coach Jamie Rice '90.
• Senior Brendan Kennedy (12-5-17) is the top returning scorer for the Beavers, while classmates Ian Driscoll (7-7-14) and Ryan Murphy (4-8-12) and junior Joseph Kramer (5-9-14) are also key returning offensive players. Seniors Will Holland (2-5-7), Nolan Woudenberg (0-7-7), Charlie Andriole (3-2-5) and Nolan Dion (0-5-5) and junior CJ Beals (0-6-6) are top returning blue-liners.
• Senior Nate Mueller (1.98 GAA, .935 sv. pct.) went 8-5-1 in 14 starts in goal for the Beavers and junior Mason Rosado (3.59 GAA, .852 sv. pct.) got the nod in 10 games.

SCOUTING THE FALCONS
• Fitchburg State is coming off a 15-13-1 campaign last season with an 8-9-1 mark in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC).
• The Falcons captured the MASCAC Tournament Championship and advanced to the NCAA Division III Championships for the third time in program history and first since 2018. Fitchburg State was defeated by tournament runner-up Utica in the first round, 5-1.
• The Falcons return 18 veterans from last year's squad, including junior Hunter Dunn (13-15-28) who led the team in scoring, senior Jeremy Maillet (7-13-20) and junior Nicklas Millhorn (12-5-17), who was second on the team in goals.
• Junior Frederick Soderberg (2.95 GAA, .904 sv. pct.) was 9-7-1 in 18 starts in goal for the Falcons and senior Max Macchioni (2.46 GAA, .933 sv. pct.) was 5-4-0 in 10 starts between the pipes.

BEHIND THE BENCH
• Now in his 22nd season behind the Beaver bench, head coach Jamie Rice '90, has guided the program to an overall record of 334-175-49 (.642), four ECAC East Tournament championships and the 2022 NEHC Tournament title.
• A three-time conference coach of the year and Edward Jeremiah Award finalist, and 2007 New England Coach of the Year, Rice has led the program to six NCAA Tournament berths, including national quarterfinal appearances in 2013, 2014 and 2022.
• Rice's counterpart this weekend, Dean Fuller, is in his 42nd season behind the Fitchburg State bench. He owns a 620-379-68 career record with seven conference championships and three NCAA tournament berths. Fuller ranks third in career wins among active Division III coaches and seventh among all Division III coaches.

HOME ICE ADVANTAGE
• The Beavers finished 8-4-1 at the Babson Skating Center in 2024-25 and are 16-6-3 on home ice over the past two seasons.
• Babson is 35-11-6 at home since 2021-22 and 109-23-13 in Babson Park since February of 2013.

SEASON OPENERS
• The Beavers have won four of their last five season openers and are 8-4 in season debuts since 2013.
• Babson is 4-0-1 in its last five home openers and 9-1-3 in the first game of the season at the Babson Skating Center since 2012.
• The Green and White defeated 11th-ranked Plymouth State, 5-4, in last year's season opener at the Babson Skating Center, scoring the game-winning goal four seconds remaining in regulation.

A LOOK AT THE LITTLE EAST CONFERENCE
• Men's ice hockey was announced as an official sport in the Little East Conference (LEC) back in July of 2023 and begins this season.
• The hockey schools in the conference is comprised of core institutions Plymouth State, Keene State, UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth, Southern Maine, Western Connecticut and Vermont State Castleton, along with affiliate members Babson, Norwich, and New England College, previously of the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC).
• The LEC will have immediate automatic qualification access to the NCAA Division III men's ice hockey championship in 2025-26, with at least six core members sponsoring the sport.
• Babson played in the ECAC from the late 1970s until the conference formally changed its name to the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) prior to the 2015-16 season.
 
PRESEASON POLL
• The Beavers were picked to finish third when the LEC preseason coaches' poll was released two weeks ago.
• Plymouth State, which won five straight MASCAC championships from 2019-24, received six of the 10 first-place votes and finished atop the poll.
• Norwich and Babson, long-time rivals in the ECAC East and NEHC, both received two first-place votes and finished second and third, respectively. UMass Boston and New England College rounded out the top half of the poll.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers went 7-3-1 last season when scoring the first goal of the game and finished 10-2-1 when scoring at least three goals.
• The Green and White were 5-1-1 when leading after the first period and 6-0-1 when ahead after two frames.
• Babson finished 9-3-1 when allowing two goals or less last year and is 90-6-9 since 2017-18 when allowing no more than two goals.

UP NEXT
• The Beavers will play their inaugural LEC game at Keene State on November 7 followed by a visit to Western Connecticut on November 8.