RUTLAND, Vt.— Seniors Brendan Kennedy (Georgetown, Ont.) and Ian Driscoll (Middleton, Mass.) each tallied a goal and an assist and No. 9 Babson College erased a 2-0 first-period deficit to defeat Vermont State University Castleton, 4-2, in a Little East Conference (LEC) men's ice hockey game Saturday afternoon inside Spartan Arena.

With the victory, the Beavers extended their winning streak to six games and improve to 16-2-2 overall and 11-1-1 in the Little East. The Spartans lost their second in a row to fall to 11-9-1 overall and 7-7-0 in the LEC.

Sophomores Raphael Marcoux (Quebec City, Que.) and Evan Brown (Little Silver, N.J.) potted goals for the Beavers, and seniors Ryan Murphy (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.) and Will Holland (Charlotte, N.C.), junior Jimmy Fallon (Milton, Mass.) and first-year Brian Grant (Mansfield, Mass.) produced assists. Junior Mason Rosado (Weddington, N.C.) finished with 31 saves in the Beaver goal in the victory.

First-year Marcus Bellomo (Salem, N.H.) and sophomore Luke Chakrabarti (White Rock, B.C.) accounted for the Castleton goals, with assists from senior Logan Dapprich (Amherst, Mass.) and sophomores Trevor Castino (Woodland Hills, Calif.) and Emmett McHardy (Vancouver, B.C.). Sophomore Charles Watson (Yarmouth, Maine) made 49 saves in the Castleton net in the loss.

The Spartans scored twice in the first period to take a 2-0 lead. Bellomo picked up a loose puck in the slot after Rosado's save on Dapprich and skated to his left before lifting a backhander from the left circle past Rosado less than two minutes into the game. Chakrabarti scored the second goal at 15:36, collecting a rebound off McHardy's shot that went off the back wall and slid a shot from the left goal line off the pads of Rosado and into the back of the net.

The Beavers got one back late in the opening frame to cut the deficit in half. Kennedy took a feed from Murphy in stride at the blue line and snapped a shot from the slot through a defender's legs past a screened Watson at 19:02.

After killing off a 5-on-3 situation for Castleton in the second period, the Beavers tied the score with a power play goal late in the stanza. Marcoux ripped a shot from the left point that was knocked down in front of the goal, and after a battle for possession, Marcoux came in and flipped the puck over the pile to deadlock the score at 18:33.

Babson scored the go-ahead goal just past the midway point in the third. Grant fired a shot from the top of the right circle that was stopped by Watson but Driscoll buried the rebound for a 3-2 lead at 10:38. Brown poked in a loose puck for an insurance marker after a scrum in front of the Castleton goal at 15:29.

The visitors finished with a 43-33 advantage in shots on goal. Babson was 1-0 on the power play while holding the hosts scoreless in two attempts with the man advantage.

Both teams play again on Saturday at 4 p.m. as Babson travels to Norwich for a battle for first place in the LEC and Castleton hosts Southern Maine.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are unbeaten over their last 22 games (20-0-2) against the Spartans and are 31-5-5 all-time versus Castleton in a series that dates back to 2004.
• Babson is 9-0-0 away from home this season including seven road wins and a pair of neutral site victories.
• Marcoux's first goal of the season made him the 20th player of the team to score this season.
• Babson is 5-2-2 this season after the opponent scores the opening goal of the game.