HENNIKER, NH -The New England College men's ice hockey team received picked up a big 5-3 New England Hockey Conference win Friday evening at Lee Clement Arena against Babson College.
The Pilgrims improve to 4-2-0 overall and 3-1-0 in NEHC action, while the Beavers move to 2-2-0 and 1-1-0 in conference play.

SCORING
2^nd 04:06 | NEC Trevor Momot (Ryan Walsh and Connor Inger)
2^nd 11:36 | BC Jack Nisbet (Cooper Norton)
2^nd 16:21 | BC Mike Egan (Ryan Black)
2^nd 17:11 | NEC Nikita Pintusov(Carlos Fornaris and Patrick DeBlois)
3^rd 02:16 | NEC Ryan Walsh(Jhuwon Davis and Hunter Hall)
3^rd 09:38 | BC Mike Egan(Nick Rosa)
3^rd 16:16 | NEC Nikita Pintusov(Carlos Fornaris and Daniel Bergqvist)
3^rd 19:31 | NEC Nikita Pintusov(Carlos Fornaris and Daniel Bergqvist)

HOW IT HAPPENED
The first period was tightly contested with good opportunities from both sides. Strong defense efforts on both sides kept the score at 0-0. Babson had two different power-play opportunities but the Pilgrims were able to kill both opportunities. The Beavers had 13 shots on goal in the period while New England College had nine. The Pilgrims won 13 of 21 face-offs in the period and blocked eight shots.

The second period saw more action as both teams were able to find the back of the net. New England College struck first early in the period off a Ryan Walsh shot that stung the top right corner of the net, which was redirected by Trevor Momot. Babson scored just over halfway through the second period to tie things up at 1-1. The Beavers were able to claim the lead a few minutes later at 2-1. Less than a minute after the Babson goal The Pilgrims tied things back up off a Nikita Pintusov goal assisted by Carlos Fornaris and Patrick DeBlois. The 2-2 score would hold for the remainder of the period.

The Pilgrims came out hot in the third period as they scored just over two minutes in. Walsh picked up his second goal of the game off an assist from Jhuwon Davis and Hunter Hall to take a 3-2 lead. About halfway through the period, the Beavers were able to tie things back up at 3-3 off of a rebound opportunity. With just under four minutes left in the period, Pintusov dumped the puck in from around the red line that took a favorable bounce and found the back of the net. Fornaris and Daniel Bergqvist picked up assists on the goal to give New England College the late 4-3 lead. Babson pulled their goalie with 1:52 remaining to gain the advantage and try to even things up. Pintusov picked up his third goal of the day on an empty netter with 28.5 seconds remaining to take the 5-3 win.

GOALTENDERS
Anthony Pupplo turned aside 34 shots and picked up the win. Nolan Hildebrand collected 28 saves for the Beavers.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Carlos Fornaris had three helpers and Pintusov picked up his second hat-trick of the season
- Ryan Walsh had a pair of goals while Bergqvist picked up 2 apples.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Pilgrims hit the road as they head to Providence, R.I. for an NEHC match-up against Johnson and Wales University. The game is set to take place at 7:00 pm on Friday, November 22^nd.