BABSON PARK, Mass.-The New England College men's ice hockey team suffered a 4-2 loss to the Beavers of Babson College in the regular season finale for both teams.
Babson, which is unbeaten over its last five games, ends the regular season at 14-8-3 overall and 12-4-2 in conference play. The Beavers will be the third seed in the upcoming conference tournament. New England College (12-11-2, 7-10-1) has dropped five of its last six games and will be seeded fifth in the NEHC playoffs.
SCORING
1
st 08:35 | BAB Charlie Ackerman (Tommy Munichiello, Matt Brazel)
1
st 15:00 | NEC
Nicholas Rein (
Joe Osaka)
1
st 15:52 | BAB Matt McMorrow (Josh Casper, Rob Devaney)
2
nd 05:33 | BAB Matt McMorrow (Tommy Munichiello)
2
nd 10:50 | NEC
Adam Zollner (
Bryce Nielsen)
3
rd 09:37 | BAB Matt Brazel (Ryan Gouveia)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Babson senior Matt McMorrow (Pearl River, N.Y.) scored twice and junior Matt Brazel (Hingham, Mass.) added a goal and an assist. Senior Charlie Ackerman (Bradenton, Fla.) scored once, junior Tommy Munichiello (Weymouth, Mass.) had two assists, and seniors Josh Casper (Lake Forest, Ill.) and Ryan Gouveia (Dartmouth, Mass.) both chipped in with an assist for the Green and White.
NEC Sophomore
Adam Zollner (Varnamo, Sweden) and first-year
Nicholas Rein (Calgary, Alberta) both had a goal, while seniors
Bryce Nielsen (Laguna Hills, Calif.) and
Joe Osaka (Tokyo, Japan) each recorded an assist for the Pilgrims.
Babson jumped on top 1-0 less than nine minutes into the first period when Ackerman notched his ninth goal of the year with a wrister from the slot off a feed from Munichiello. New England College tied it when Rein tapped home a loose puck that got behind Botcher in the crease for his first career tally at the 15:00 mark.
The Beavers wasted little time going back in front as McMorrow notched the first of his two goals off a rebound of Casper's shot from the point just 52 seconds later. He scored his second of the game and eighth of the season 5:33 into the second period, this time going to the backhand to fake out Shapiro before lifting a shot over the outstretched goaltender for a 3-1 advantage.
The Pilgrims cut their deficit in half when Nielsen's shot from the blue line deflected off the chest of Zollner for a power play goal at 10:50 of the second to make it 3-2. The Green and White killed off four of five penalties over the final two periods, and got some breathing room when Brazel beat Shapiro glove side with a wrist shot following a neutral zone turnover for a two-goal lead with 10:23 left.
GOALTENDERS
Babson junior goaltender Bryan Botcher (Mequon, Wis.) finished with 25 saves to post his fifth win in six starts.
Kyle Shapiro (Ocean Township, N.J.) made 26 saves in defeat.
WHAT'S NEXT
Both teams return to action next Saturday in the NEHC Tournament quarterfinals. Babson will host sixth-seeded Skidmore at 7 p.m., while New England College will travel to fourth-seeded UMass Boston.
