While most Division 3 teams in New England return to action this weekend, Babson got a head start to the second half of the season with a pair of quality road wins last weekend.
Of course, quality road wins are nothing new for the Beavers, who have won all five times they’ve taken the ice away from home.
Babson spent its weekend winning a pair of games in come-from-behind fashion. It beat Milwaukee School of Engineering, 4-3, on Friday, then rallied from two goals down to beat Lake Forest (Ill.), 3-2.
As the page flips on a new calendar year, the Beavers are 10-3-1, sitting just outside the national rankings and in second place (behind UMass-Boston) in the New England Hockey Conference.
Sophomore Nick Rosa, who scored the go-ahead goal with 1:27 left in regulation to beat Lake Forest, leads the team with 10 goals and 17 points.
In fact, four of the team’s top five scorers are freshmen or sophomores. Senior Tommy Munichiello (Weymouth, Mass.) has four goals and 10 assists, but right behind him are a trio of freshmen: Mike Egan of Billerica, Mass. (4-10-14), Matt Wiesner (9-4-13) and Ryan Black of Pomfret, Conn. (4-7-11).
Defensively, the Beavers have been statistically good, not great, allowing 2.5 goals a game. But they’ve been great at the end of games with the outcome in the balance, outscoring opponents 24-10 in the third period and overtime.
The goaltending workload has been split by veterans Bryan Botcher and Matt Pompa, each of whom has gotten the call in seven games.
Botcher (5-1-1) has posted a 1.99 goals-against average and .933 save percentage. Pompa (5-2-0) is at 3.00 and .912.
The Beavers are back on the road Saturday for a non-conference game at Curry. After that, it’s all NEHC play the rest of the way, with 10 straight conference games starting with a weekend trip to Southern Maine and New England College Jan. 12-13.
Babson’s regular season concludes with a home-and-home against UMass-Boston Feb. 8-9, one that could have first place hanging in the balance.
Games to Watch
Codfish Bowl
At UMass-Boston
UMass-Boston (11-2) hosts the 54th annual Codfish Bowl Friday and Saturday. The opening games feature the hosts taking on Tufts (4 p.m.), and Bryn Athyn facing Cortland (1 p.m.).
The winners and losers both play Saturday. UMB, ranked No. 8 nationally, is scoring at a 4.62 clip, the fourth-highest average in Division 3.
Tufts (4-5) has been a tough team to figure. Its 2-4 league mark has it sitting second to last in the NESCAC, but it owns one-sided wins against both Williams (6-2) and Bowdoin (6-1).
Boston Landing Invitational
At Warrior Ice Arena, Boston
Another Friday-Saturday event, the intriguing matchup at the Boston Bruins’ practice facility is Friday’s late one between New England College (6-3-2) and Nichols (6-5-1).
NEC is unbeaten in its last four games and getting excellent play between the pipes by Neumann transfer Anthony Pupplo (1.98 GAA, .932 save percentage), who’s a big reason the Pilgrims are allowing barely two goals a game.
Nichols is just a point off the Commonwealth Coast Conference pace set by Salve Regina, and junior Vincent Crivello is having a monster junior year (3-14-17).
Host Suffolk (4-7) will play Lebanon Valley in Friday’s early matchup, with the winners and losers meeting Saturday.
Northfield Bank Tournament
At Northfield, Vt.
The annual post-New Year’s gathering at Norwich has the hosts welcoming No. 13 Endicott, Buffalo State and Neumann for the two-day event Friday and Saturday.
Endicott (8-3-1) charged into its holiday break, winning its last five games and scoring at least five goals in each one. The Gulls rank second in Division 3 in scoring (5.15 goals) and senior Tommy Besinger (Milton, Mass.) is tied for fourth in points (4-19-23).
Norwich (6-4-1) finds itself in an unfamiliar spot in the NEHC -- sixth place -- in Cam Ellsworth’s first season behind the bench, and will look to use this weekend as a springboard to a second-half run.
