Box Score
BABSON PARK, Mass. – Visiting Skidmore College built a three-goal lead and then fended off a late Babson College comeback as the Thoroughbreds held on for a 4-3 victory over the Beavers in an ECAC East men's ice hockey contest at the Babson Skating Center on Friday night. With the win, Skidmore improved to 6-7 overall and 5-3 in league play, while Babson dipped to 6-6-1 overall and 4-4 in the ECAC East.
Skidmore came out strong in the first period, scoring goals on each of their first two shots in the opening 2:06. The Thoroughbreds got on the board when first-year Alex Ruccio (Simsbury, Conn.) took a pass from junior
Alex Mykolenko (Kharkiv, Ukraine) and scored his first collegiate goal off a slapper from the left circle at 1:52. Skidmore then made it a 2-0 contest just 14 seconds later, as sophomore
Sasha Thomas (Gatineau, Quebec) fed senior captain
Chris Webb (Holliston, Mass.) in front for his fourth of the season at 2:06.
The Thoroughbreds pushed their lead to 3-0 with a powerplay score at 6:12 of the second, as first-year
Zach Menard's (Burlington, Mass.) deflected pass found its way to Mykolenko on the left side. Mykolenko then fired a quick shot into an open net before Babson sophomore goalie Andrew Peabody (Marblehead, Mass.) could recover as the visitors increased their lead to 3-0. It was Mykolenko's fourth of the season.
Babson finally got on the board at 8:31 of the second, when first-year Ryan Smith (Lynnfield, Mass.) dug the puck out behind the net and slid a pass to senior Chris Wood (Montreal, Quebec) in the slot. The Beavers' leading scorer then stuffed home his ninth goal of the season to cut his team's deficit to 3-1.
Skidmore added an insurance goal in the opening minutes of the third period, when sophomore
Tyler Doremus (Aspen, Colo.) converted the Thoroughbreds' second powerplay goal of the night off feeds from senior
Matt Czerkowicz (Blackstone, Mass.) and sophomore
Nick Dupuis (Holyoke, Mass.). Tyler's third tally of the winter would prove key later in the session, as Babson scored two straight goals to get back to within one.
Babson first-year Trevor Hines (Newburyport, Mass.) intercepted the puck deep in the Skidmore zone and backhanded a breakaway goal past sophomore
Colin Bessey (Montclair, N.J.) to make it 4-2 at 9:24 of the third. Babson then pulled Peabody for an extra skater with 2:35 remaining, and the strategy paid off when sophomore Sean Roche (Franklin, Mass.) scored off assists from first-year PT Donato (Arlington, Mass.) and junior Terry Woods (Duxbury, Mass.) to make it a one-goal game with 18 seconds remaining.
A powerplay would give Babson two extra skaters for the final 13 seconds, but the Beavers would not put a shot on net the rest of the way. After winning a faceoff with 2.5 ticks remaining, Babson senior Shane Farrell (West Warwick, R.I.) hit a slapper from the left point, but it was blocked by a Skidmore defender as the Thoroughbreds came away with the 4-3 victory.
Bessey finished with 20 saves in the win for Skidmore, while Peabody stopped 24 shots in defeat for Babson.
Skidmore College (6-8-0, 5-3-0 ECACE) vs. Babson College (6-6-1, 4-4-0 ECACE)
Date: Jan 15, 2010 Location: Babson Park, MA Arena: Babson Skating Cntr
Attendance:400 Start time:7:00 PM End time:9:06 PM Total time:2:06
Goals by Period 1 2 3 Tot
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Skidmore College.... 2 1 1 - 4
Babson College...... 0 1 2 - 3
1st period - 1, SKD,
Alex Riccio (
Alex Mykolenko) 1:52. 2, SKD,
Chris Webb (
Sasha Thomas,
Julian Malakorn) 2:06.
2nd period - 3, SKD,
Alex Mykolenko (
Zach Menard,
Brendan Cottam) 6:12 (pp). 4, BAB, Chris Wood (Ryan Smith) 8:31.
3rd period - 5, SKD,
Tyler Doremus (
Matt Czerkowicz,
Nick Dupuis) 1:52 (pp). 6, BAB, Trevor Hines 9:24. 7, BAB, Sean Roche (PT Donato, Terry Woods) 19:42.
Shots on goal - SKD 11-7-10 28; BAB 3-7-13 23.
Power plays - SKD 2 of 4; BAB 0 of 6.
Penalties - SKD 7 (14 min); BAB 5 (10 min).
Goalies - SKD,
Colin Bessey (60:00 minutes, 23 shots-20 saves); BAB, Andrew Peabody (58:06, 28-24) , EMPTY NET (01:54, 0-0).
A-400 T-2:06
Referee:Bob Hawkes Linesman:Rob Tisi; Stephen Drain
Win-
Colin Bessey. Loss-Andrew Peabody.