BABSON PARK, Mass.— Sophomore goalie Anthony Beaulieu (Lawrence, Mass.) made a season-high 40 saves and New England College scored twice in a span of 80 seconds late in the second period to pull off an upset over No. 7 Babson College, 2-1, in a Little East Conference (LEC) men's ice hockey game Saturday afternoon inside the Babson Skating Center.

With the loss, Babson had a five-game unbeaten streak snapped and fell to 10-2-2 overall and 5-1-1 in the Litte East. NEC broke a six-game losing streak and improved to 4-10-0 overall and 3-5-0 in conference play.

Senior Nate Mueller (Rogers, Minn.) made 27 saves in the Babson goal but suffered his first loss of the season (8-1-2). Senior Will Holland (Charlotte, N.C.) scored for the Beavers with assists from sophomore Evan Brown (Little Silver, N.J.) and senior Charlie Andriole (Branford, Conn.) in the setback.

First-year Matteo Viglino (Davos, Switz.) and junior Dylan Duckson (Mahtomedi, Minn.) tallied goals for the Pilgrims, and junior Gunnar Sibley (Monticello, Minn.) and first-year Casey Sturm (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) collected assists in the victory.

After playing scoreless hockey the entire first period and 17 minutes of the middle frame, the teams combined for three goals in the final three minutes of the second period. The Pilgrims opened the scoring when Sibley carried the puck end-to-end into the left corner and slid a pass in front, where Viglino knocked it underneath Mueller for a 1-0 lead at 17:20.

The Pilgrims drew a penalty less than a minute later but capitalized with a shorthanded marker. Duckson blocked a Babson shot from the left point and created a 2-on-1 going the other way, and Duckson opted for the shot and ripped it past Mueller for a 2-0 Pilgrim lead at 18:42.

Babson maintained composure on the power play and answered to cut the deficit in half. Holland teed up a slap shot on a pass from Brown from just inside the blue line in the middle of the zone and got it past Beaulieu with 10 seconds left in the period, sending the teams into the second intermission with NEC leading 2-1.

The Beavers outshot the Pilgrims 12-10 in the period but could not solve Beaulieu. Babson pulled Mueller  with 3:05 remaining following a Pilgrim timeout and kept the puck in the NEC zone for the majority of the final three minutes. Beaulieu made four stops down the stretch, and the Pilgrim defense blocked three shots to help preserve the victory.

The Green and White outshot the visitors 41-29 and went 1-for-3 on the power play. NEC was 0-for-1 with the man advantage but a short-handed goal ended up as the game-winner.

Babson is back in action with an LEC game next Friday at UMass Dartmouth while NEC plays a non-conference contest Thursday at Fitchburg State.

GAME NOTES
• New England College has won three of the last four games at the Babson Skating Centra but the Beavers are 51-26-8 all-time against the Pilgrims in a series that dates back to 1977.
• Beaulieu earned his second straight win over the Beavers following a 31-save shutout victory in the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) playoffs that ended Babson's season last March.
• Babson has outshot its opponents in eight straight games and 12 of 14 outings this season.