Men's Ice Hockey at Keene State
Friday, November 7 | 7 p.m.
Keene ICE | Keene, N.H.

Men's Ice Hockey at Western Connecticut
Saturday, November 8 | 2:30 p.m.
Danbury Ice Arena | Danbury, Conn.

WHAT TO KNOW
• After opening the season with a pair of non-conference victories over Fitchburg State, Babson will play its inaugural Little East Conference (LEC) games this weekend at Keene State on Friday evening and Western Connecticut on Saturday afternoon.
• Men's ice hockey was announced as an official sport in the Little East back in July of 2023 and begins this season.
• 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.

SERIES HISTORY
vs. Keene State
• First Meeting
vs. Western Connecticut
• First Meeting

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (2-0-0, 0-0-0 LEC) opened the season with a sweep of Fitchburg State, winning 4-1 on Friday in Fitchburg and 3-2 on Saturday at the Babson Skating Center.
• Sophomore transfer Evan Brown tallied a goal and an assist and Babson scored three unanswered goals in the third period in Friday's victory, and junior Jimmy Fallon produced a goal and an assist in Saturday's triumph as Babson completed the weekend sweep. Senior goalie Nate Mueller made 44 saves on 47 shots to earn the two wins in goal.
• Brown (2-1-3), Fallon (1-2-3) and senior Ryan Murphy (0-3-3) all collected three points in the opening weekend. Seniors Ian Driscoll and Brendan Kennedy, junior Sean Senier and first-year Brian Grant all found the back of the net for the Beavers, Grant posting his first collegiate goal.
• Mueller (1.50 GAA, .936 sv. pct.) made 27 saves on opening night and followed that up with 17 saves on Saturday to improve his career record to 19-14-1.

SCOUTING THE OWLS
• Keene State (2-0-0, 0-0-0 LEC), which went 13-10-2 in its first varsity campaign in 2024-25, opened its season last weekend with a pair of victories over Division II programs Saint Anselm (2-1) on Friday in Manchester, N.H., and Franklin Pierce (8-6) on Saturday in Keene.
• Sophomore Sean Gray and first-year Zacky Chouinard each had a goal and an assist, Gray scored the deciding goal six minutes into the third period, and sophomore Ben Skelton made 34 saves in the win over Saint Anselm. Junior Marcus Chrisafideis and sophomore Sean Hoffman tallied two goals each, sophomore Chase Carney collected four assists, and Hoffman scored the go-ahead goal at 14:11 of the third period in Saturday's triumph.
• Chrisafideis (2-2-4) and Carney (0-4-4) have the early lead on the team in scoring, with Hoffman (2-1-3), Chouinard (1-2-3), Gray (1-2-3), and sophomore Peter Unger (1-2-3) all registering three points.
• Skelton (1.00 GAA, .971 sv. pct.) and first-year Cameron Reardon (6.03 GAA, .846 sv. pct.) each went 1-0 on the weekend  between the pipes.

SCOUTING THE WOLVES
• Western Connecticut (0-2-0, 0-0-0 LEC), which is in its first season as a varsity program, will host Southern Maine in its LELC debut on Friday before welcoming Babson on Saturday. The Wolves played their first two varsity games last weekend, falling to Albertus Magnus in overtime (5-4) in the inaugural game at home on Friday before taking a 6-0 loss at Post on Saturday in Shelton, Conn.
• First-year Scott McNulty notched two goals and sophomore Phil Parker scored a tying goal with 33 seconds remaining in the third period to force overtime against Albertus but the Falcons won it 52 seconds into the extra session. Two WestConn goalies, first-years Malte Hedlund and Dylan Dewachter, combined for 32 saves but the Wolves were victims to three power play goals in the setback to Post to wrap up the weekend.
• McNulty (2-0-2) scored one of his goals on the power play, and first-years Tyler Gobel (0-2-2), Tony Morran (0-2-2) and Francis Rose (0-2-2) share the team lead in assists.
• First-year Liam Lane (5.06 GAA, .838 sv. pct.) got the opening night nod in goal and made 38 saves, while Hedlund made 14 saves in the first period and Dewachter 18 stops in the final 40 minutes in game two.

NICE TO MEET YOU, NICE SEEING YOU AGAIN
• Babson will skate against Keene State and Western Connecticut for the first time, which will be the 80th and 81st different programs that the Beavers have faced dating back to the mid-1950s.
• The Green and White will also meet several long-time rivals this season, including Norwich (87 career meetings), New England College (86), UMass Boston (73), Southern Maine (50), and non-conference foes Williams (50) and Amherst (45).

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.

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.

BEAVER BITES
• 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.
• Kennedy (12-5-17) is the top returning scorer for the Beavers, while Driscoll (7-7-14) and 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.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson is 12-2-1 since the beginning of last season and 41-5-3 since the beginning of the 2022-23 campaign when scoring at least three goals.
• The Beavers were 7-3-1 last season and 32-8-2 over the past three seasons when scoring the first goal of the game.
• The Green and White were 8-3-1 last year and 31-11-2 over since the 2022-23 season when scoring on the power play.

UP NEXT
• The Beavers will return home for their first LEC games at the Babson Skating Center against Norwich on November 14 and Vermont State Castleton on November 15.