Men's Ice Hockey vs. Saint Michael's
Saturday, October 31 | 3 p.m.
Babson Skating Center | Babson Park, Mass.

WHAT TO KNOW
• The puck drops on the 2026-27 Babson College men's ice hockey season when the Beavers welcome Saint Michael's College for a non-conference clash on Saturday at Babson Skating Center.
• The Green and White will play their first three games on home ice, hosting Keene State and Western Connecticut in the first Little East Conference (LEC) games of the season on November 6-7.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 25-3-1 all-time against the Purple Knights in a series that dates back to the 1998-99 season.
• The Beavers have won the last four meetings between the teams since a 4-2 loss in 2016, which snapped Babson's 18-game unbeaten streak (17-0-1) in the series.
• The Green and White have won the last 10 games over Saint Mike's at the Babson Skating Center dating back to a 4-3 setback in January of 2004.

LAST MEETING
• Wyatt George '25 tallied his first career hat trick and Tommy Rooney '26 added a pair of goals as Babson doubled up Saint Michael's, 6-3, on December 29, 2023, inside Cairns Arena in South Burlington, Vt.
• Cam Joslin '26 rounded out the list of Babson goal scorers while Ian Driscoll '26 collected a career-high three assists. Ryan Murphy '26 and Brendan Kennedy '26 added two helpers each, and Colby Bailey '24, Matt Cormier '25 and Nolan Dion '26 and Charlie Andriole '26 produced one assist apiece. Nate Mueller '26 made 25 saves in goal for the win.
• Quinn McCarthy '26 scored a pair of goals to lead the Purple Knights and senior Brayden Naumann scored once in the setback. Matti Tauriainen '26, senior Ty Bloom, and Brennan McFarland '25 and Ryland Dukes '25 recorded one assist each and Marshall Murphy '24 made 35 saves in goal.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson returns 11 players (five seniors, two juniors, four sophomores) from a team that finished 20-5-2 overall and 14-3-1 in the inaugural LEC season in 2025-26. The Beavers finished runner-up in the Little East regular season and advanced to the LEC tournament final, the 20th conference championship game appearance in program history.
• Senior Jimmy Fallon (19-15-34) leads the group of returning forwards after earning several post-season honors last year, including All-America East third team, All-New England, LEC Player of the Year, and All-LEC first team. Junior Evan Brown (9-23-32) was an All-Conference second team pick after finishing second in the league in assists.
• Seniors Sean Senier (7-2-9) and Joseph Kramer (2-3-5) and sophomore Reid Pehrkon (3-2-5) are also experienced forwards on the roster, while senior CJ Beals (0-5-5), junior Rapheal Marcoux (1-9-10), and sophomore Brian Grant (2-3-5) skated regular shifts along the blue line for the Beavers.
• Senior Mason Rosado (5-1-0, 2.17 GAA, .914 sv. pct.) is a veteran goalie (29 games) with a 16-9-3 career record, a 2.77 goals against average and an .899 save percentage.

SCOUTING THE PURPLE KNIGHTS
• Saint Michael's is coming off a 16-12-3 campaign last season with an 11-7-2 mark in the Northeast-10 (NE10).
• The Purple Knights were knocked out of the NE10 Tournament in a dramatic triple overtime semifinal against Saint Anselm, 3-2.
• Saint Michael's returns 18 veterans from last year, including eight of the top nine scorers and two-time all-conference junior goalie Evan Plunkett (13-7-1, school records 1.96 GAA and .945 save percentage).
• Bloom (10-10-20) and sophomore Aj Sacco (10-8-18) are the top returning scorers along with Naumann (8-9-17) and junior Cole Douglas (0-17-17), the team leader in assists. Other key returning scorers include senior Hans Forselius (7-8-15), juniors Sj LeComte (10-3-13) and Jack Tuite (6-6-12) and senior Ben Baxter (2-9-11).

BEHIND THE BENCH
• Now in his 23nd season behind the Beaver bench, head coach Jamie Rice '90, has guided the program to an overall record of 354-180-51 (.649), four ECAC East Tournament championships and the 2022 NEHC Tournament title.
• A four-time conference coach of the year and Edward Jeremiah Award finalist, and three-time New England Coach of the Year, Rice has led the program to six NCAA Tournament berths, including national quarterfinal appearances in 2007, 2013, 2014 and 2022.
• Rice ranks 10th among active Division III head coaches in career victories and 14th in career winning percentage. His teams have won at least 17 games on 13 occasions and reached the conference tournament final in 2026 for the 12th time in his career. The Beavers have finished in the top 15 in the final US College Hockey Online Division III rankings nine times in the last 12 seasons under Rice.

HOME ICE ADVANTAGE
• The Beavers finished 10-2-2 at the Babson Skating Center in 2025-26 and are 26-8-5 on home ice over the past three seasons.
• Babson is 43-11-6 at home since 2021-22 and 119-25-15 in Babson Park since February of 2013.

SEASON OPENERS
• The Beavers have won five of their last six season openers and are 9-4 in season debuts since 2013.
• Babson is 5-0-1 in its last six home openers and 10-1-3 in the first game of the season at the Babson Skating Center since 2012.
• The Green and White defeated Fitchburg State, 4-1, in last year's season opener in Fitchburg, and downed the Falcons in the season debut at the Babson Skating Center, 3-2.

PRESEASON POLL
• The Beavers were picked to finish runner-up when the LEC preseason coaches' poll was released last week.
• Norwich, which captured the inaugural Little East title last March, received eight of the 10 first-place votes and finished atop the poll, while Babson got the remaining two top votes and finished second.
• Plymouth State, which was the preseason favorite last year, finished third in the voting while UMass Boston and Southern Maine rounded out the top half of the poll.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers went 13-0 last season when scoring the first goal of the game and finished 19-0-1 when scoring at least three goals.
• The Green and White were 12-0-1 when leading after the first period and 15-5-1 when ahead after two frames.
• Babson finished 15-1-1 when allowing two goals or less last year and is 105-7-10 since 2017-18 when allowing no more than two goals.

UP NEXT
• The Beavers will host Keene State on November 6 and Western Connecticut on November 7 in the first two LEC games of the season.