Box Score

BABSON PARK, Mass. – The Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team took an early 1-0 lead, but #8/9 Babson College scored the final three goals of the contest as the Hawks dropped a 3-1 decision to the Beavers on Friday night in New England Hockey Conference action in Babson Park, Mass.

The Hawks fall to 11-10-3 overall and 6-8-3 in the NEHC, while Babson improves to 17-5-2 overall and 13-3-1 in conference games. Saint Anselm wraps up the NEHC regular season tomorrow afternoon when they travel to #9/10 UMass Boston for a 4:00 p.m. matchup.

Nick Leonard (Methuen, Mass.) opened the scoring in the game as he tipped home a shot from Peter Sikalis (Acton, Mass.) for his seventh goal of the season to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead 14:42 into the first period. Brendon Kerrigan (Boston, Mass.) also picked up an assist on the play.

Babson pulled even only 3:19 into the second period when Charlie Ackerman scored on a 2-on-1 chance off a feed from Matt McMorrow to knot the game at 1-1. The Beavers outshot Saint Anselm 15-11 in the second period and Shane Joyce (Pembroke, Mass.) was up to the task as he made 14 stops in the frame.

Ackerman put Babson ahead for good early in the final period when he rattled in a shot off the post to give the Beavers a 2-1 advantage. Joyce was able to keep it a 2-1 game with less than eight minutes to play when Ackerman tried to convert a penalty shot, but the sophomore stoned him with a blocker save to keep the score 2-1.

The Beavers eventually added an insurance goal on the power play when Jared Wiedemann scored from the left point with 1:34 to play in the game to seal the 3-1 victory.

Babson held a 37-19 advantage in shots for the game and won 53 face-offs. The Hawks went 0-for-4 on the power play, while the Beavers converted 1-of-3 chances. Shane Joyce stopped 34-of-37 shots and dropped to 9-7-3 on the year. Babson's Jamie Murray made 18 saves in the win.

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