Manchester, N.H. (February 8) -- The 15th-ranked Babson College Beavers held off a third period comeback from the Hawks Friday night at Sullivan Arena, handing Saint Anselm its ninth straight loss, 4-3. The win improves the Beavers to 13-4-3, 9-3-2 ECAC East, while the loss drops the Hawks to 5-10-3, 1-10-3 in league play.

After ten minutes of scoreless play, the Beavers broke the ice with a goal at the 10:12 mark. Jason Schneider (Littleton, Mass.) scored in a scuffle in front of the net, assisted by Chris Wood (Medford, Mass.). The Beavers took the 1-0 lead into the second period.

The Beavers struck quickly in the second period to take a two-goal lead, as Shane Farrell (West Warwick, R.I.) found the back of the net at the 1:48 mark, assisted by Mike Venit (Ridley Park, Pa.). Babson then made it a three-goal cushion at the 8:32 mark when Venit threaded the needle for a goal in the lower left corner of the net, assisted by Pat McLaughin (Berlin, Mass.). The Beavers then scored again to take a 4-0 lead at the 12:03 mark, when McLaughlin put home a rebound past the left pad of Saint Anselm goaltender, Pat Gallagher (Framingham, Mass.). Farrell assisted on the goal.

The Hawks got on the board to cut the lead to 4-1 on a five-on-three at the 13:24 mark, when Coleman Noonan (Norfolk, Mass.) tipped in a Mike Nunzianto (Guilford, Conn.) shot from the point. The Hawks went into the third frame down 4-1.

The Hawks caught a break for their second goal, when a Babson clear from behind the net caught the leg of Hawk forward, Colin Fitzpatrick (Westwood, Mass.), and found the back of the net at the 8:39 mark in the third to put the Hawks down by just two. Just under two minutes later, Noonan made a spectacular move at the blue line to ditch a Babson defender, then pocketed the puck in the top right corner of the net on a wrist shot from the left hash mark at the 10:15 mark. Matt Grazioso (Quincy, Mass.) and Ryan Butler (Arlington, Mass.) assisted on Noonan's second goal of the game. The Beavers held on to the one goal lead though and held off the Saint Anselm attack for the rest of the game, notching the victory, 4-3.

Gallagher made 29 saves in the one-goal loss, while Babson goaltender, Skylar Nipps (Orlando, Fla.), made 13 saves in the win.

The Hawks look to break the losing skid tomorrow, hosting UMass Boston at 3 p.m. at Sullivan Arena.