MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Joe Tebano (Glastonbury, Conn.) scored a pair of goals, but the Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team was edged by seventh-ranked Babson College, 4-3, Saturday afternoon at Thomas F. Sullivan Arena.
The Hawks dip to 5-8-3 on the season, including 3-5-3 in ECAC East play, while the Beavers bump their record to 14-3-0, 8-2-0.
Saint Anselm drew first blood with 2:22 remaining in the opening period as senior Greg Merrill (Brighton, Mich.) won a battle for the puck at the center-ice boards and sent a backhanded pass across the ice to Tebano, who skated down the left side, around the circle and along the endline before banking a shot in off a Babson defender to make it 1-0.
The Beavers struck back just 1:12 later on the power play, however, as Ben Kravitz sent a hard shot from the left point that caromed off the boards behind the net where Troy Starrett tracked it down. Starrett then fed Matt O'Neill at the left post before the puck ended up at the right post and was batted in by Mike Driscoll.
Babson grabbed the lead just 1:46 into the second period with its second power-play goal of the contest. Joe DiPietro began the sequence with a pass from the left point to the left circle that was collected by Michael Phillips, who then snapped off a hard pass toward the slot that was popped in past Saint Anselm senior goaltender Robert Kang (Glen Rock, N.J.) by Nik Tasiopoulos.
Driscoll stretched the lead to 3-1 with his second goal of the game – a shorthanded tally – with 1:28 to go in the period. Driscoll took the puck away from a Saint Anselm defender at the blue line of his own defensive zone and streaked down the left side, deked Kang right in front and flipped the puck into the back of the net.
The Hawks did not lie down, however, as they pulled within one just 1:10 into the final stanza. Merrill started the play with a pass from the left point to the slot for sophomore Bryan Sullivan (Burlington, Mass.), who chipped a quick shot on net. The puck came off the pads of Babson goaltender Jamie Murray and Tebano, who came flying in from the right side, put the puck past him to cut it to 3-2.
Saint Anselm gained the equalizer with 4:52 to play in regulation as freshman John Rogeri (Katy, Texas) worked the puck loose near the center-ice boards on the left side and classmate Peter Sikalis (Acton, Mass.) picked it up, skated around the defense and through the right circle before backhanding a shot that snuck through the five-hole of Murray to tie the game.
The celebration would be short-lived, though, as Babson scored the eventual game-winner 46 seconds later. Liam Anderson took a slapshot from the left point that caromed out to the right end line where Ryan Heavey flipped it back in front for Max Franklin, who put it past Kang to make it 4-3.
Kang stopped 22 shots, while Murray made 40 saves. Saint Anselm outshot Babson, 43-26, including 26-12 over the final two periods, but the Beavers were an efficient 2-for-3 with the man-advantage and killed off all eight Saint Anselm power plays, including a trio of 5-on-3 opportunities.
The contest wrapped up Saint Anselm ice hockey's annual four-game Pink in the Rink weekend, in which the men's and women's teams raise both money and awareness for breast cancer. This year, the teams are donating all earned monies to the Breast Cancer Research Wing at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester.
The Hawks return to action Friday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. when they travel to take on Skidmore College. The next home game for the Hawks is Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. when they play host to Salem State University at Sullivan. Stay up-to-date with the latest news, including game previews and recaps, directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter @STAHawks.
