BABSON PARK, Mass.— Senior Nate Mueller (Rogers, Minn.) made 30 saves in goal and the line of senior Egan Schmitt (Schuylerville, N.Y.), junior Jimmy Fallon (Milton, Mass.) and sophomore Evan Brown (Little Silver, N.J.) combined for all four goals and nine points in all as 13th-ranked and second-seeded Babson College blanked third-seeded Plymouth State University, 4-0, in a Little East Conference men's ice hockey tournament semifinal on Saturday afternoon inside the Babson Skating Center.

With the victory, Babson improves to 20-4-2 on the season and advances to the inaugural LEC men's hockey tournament championships game next Saturday in Northfield, Vt., against top-seeded Norwich, which shut out fifth-seeded UMass Boston (6-0) in Saturday's other semifinal. Plymouth State winds up its season at 15-11-1 overall.

Schmitt finished with two goals and two assists, Fallon contributed a goal and an assist, and Brown produced a goal and two assists in the victory. Fellow seniors Charlie Andriole (Branford, Conn.) and Will Holland (Charlotte, N.C.) and sophomore Raphael Marcoux (Quebec City, Que.) registered assists and Mueller made 13 saves in the third period to finish off his first shutout of the season and the third of his career.

Junior Connor Strobel (Butler, Pa.) made 31 saves in the PSU goal as Babson outshot the Panthers 35-30.

After a scoreless first period in which Babson had a 13-7 shot advantage, the Beavers took the lead with one of the prettiest goals of the season. Schmitt skated between two PSU defensemen and sent a behind-the-back pass from the bottom of the right circle to Brown in the slot, and Brown spun around and dropped a blind reverse between-the-legs pass to Fallon who was following the play, and Fallon buried his team leading 19th goal of the season at 3:08 of the second period.

The 1-0 Babson lead remained until a pair of key plays early in the third period. PSU nearly tied the score during a 4-on-4 less than two minutes into the frame when a shot by first-year Tucker Shedd (Holt, Mich.) from just inside the blue line was deflected in front by junior Patrick O'Connell (West Chester, Pa.), but the puck rang off the right goal post. Babson collected the rebound and came down the ice, where Schmitt deked around a defender and ripped a shot from the right circle past Strobel just inside the left post for a 2-0 lead at 1:57 of the third.

The Beavers pulled away midway through the frame when Fallon fired a shot from the left circle that Strobel nearly stopped, but Brown buried the loose puck for a 3-0 lead at 9:03. The final dagger was a power play goal with 5:35 remaining as Schmitt slipped a shot inside the near post from the left circle for his second of the game and eighth of the season.

The Beavers finished 1-for-2 on the power play and killed off both Plymouth State attempts with a man-advantage.

GAME NOTES
• Babson captured all three games this season against Plymouth State and owns a 10-2-1 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to the 2002-03 season.
• Schmitt has four goals and six assists in six career games against Plymouth State.
• Fallon's 19 goals this season is the most for a Babson player since Ryan Black '22 notched 19 goals in 2021-22.
• Mueller improved his season record to 15-3-2, posting the most wins for a Babson goaltender since Hall of Fame goalie Jamie Murray '16 had 19 wins in 2014-15.
• Babson will be seeking its eighth conference championship in program history next Saturday at Norwich.