Box Score
BABSON PARK, Mass.—Sixth-ranked Babson College took out Skidmore College, 5-3, in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East men's ice hockey action on Saturday afternoon at the Babson Skating Center.
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With the victory, Babson is now 17-3-1 on the year and in sole possession of first place in the ECAC East at 11-2-1, while Skidmore drops to 7-8-7 overall and 3-6-6 in the conference.
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Babson killed off a pair of early Skidmore power plays, but the Thoroughbreds jumped on top 1-0 on Gavrik's 10th goal of the year at 14:40 of the first period. Thomas Park (Framingham, Mass.) carried the puck through the neutral zone and inside the blue line before finding Gavrik on the right wing to set up the score.
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Cibelli scored the first of his two goals to give Skidmore a 2-0 lead just 14 seconds into the second period, converting Schuler's feed from behind the net. The Beavers rallied though, as Bonazza buried a feed from senior Nik Tasiopoulos (Norwell, Mass.) to slice the deficit in half at the 4:43 mark. Starrett tied the game at 19:07 of the second period, jamming the puck home at the left post, and Searles followed with a blast from the slot following a great pass from sophomore Max Franklin (Wrentham, Mass.) to give Babson a 3-2 lead just 17 seconds later.
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The Thoroughbreds did not go quietly, drawing even just 2:40 into the third period. Schuler won a faceoff on the left wing and Anthony Bird (Central Square, N.Y.) found Cibelli, who ripped a shot from the right point that beat Beavers' goaltender Jamie Murray (Scituate, Mass.).
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Troy Starrett broke the tie just under two and a half minutes later, pouncing on the rebound of a shot from the point by senior Ben Kravitz (Huntington, N.Y.), to put the Green and White ahead to stay.
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Babson killed off a pair of Skidmore penalties in the first 10 minutes of the third period, and DiPietro tacked on an insurance goal at the 12:33 mark, ripping a one-timer from just inside the blue line on the power play for his third tally of the season.
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Murray made 35 saves to earn his 15th win of the season for the Beavers, while his counterpart, Jack McDonald (King City, Ontario) of Skidmore, stopped 42 shots.
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The Green and White held a 47-38 edge in shots and killed off all six of the Thoroughbreds power play opportunities.
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Both teams return to action on Friday night at 7 p.m. as Babson takes on the University of New England at the Babson Skating Center, while Skidmore hosts Saint Michael's.
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                        Hockey Game Box Score (Final)
   Skidmore College vs #6 Babson College (Feb 01, 2014 at Babson Park, MA)
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Skidmore College (7-8-7, 3-6-6 ECACE) vs. Babson College (17-3-1, 11-2-1 ECACE)
Date: Feb 01, 2014Â Location: Babson Park, MAÂ Â Â Â Â Â Arena: Babson Skating Ctr.
 Attendance:250  Start time:4:00pm   End time:6:09pm   Total time:2:09  Â
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Goals by Period      1 2 3 Tot
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Skidmore College.... 1 1 1 - 3
Babson College...... 0 3 2 - 5
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Limoges/11) 14:30. Penalties - Ryan Heavey, BAB (hooking) 2:23; Matt
Furey, BAB (interference) 6:49; Vlad Gavrik, SKIDMORE (tripping)
11:07.
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BAB, Andrew Bonazza/8 (Nik Tasiopoulos/8, Michael Phillips/11) 4:43.
4, BAB, Troy Starrett/4 (Mike Driscoll/11) 19:07. 5, BAB, Tim
Searles/2 (Max Franklin/11, Ryan Heavey/8) 19:24. Penalties - Tom
Callahan, BAB (hooking) 8:43; Mike Vollmin, BAB (hooking) 13:30; Brad
Schuler, SKIDMORE (holding) 17:03.
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Schuler/19) 2:40. 7, BAB, Troy Starrett/5 (Ben Kravitz/3, Dan Casey/2)
5:08. 8, BAB, Joe DiPietro/3 (Michael Phillips/12, Mike Vollmin/6)
12:33 (pp). Penalties - Michael Phillips, BAB (high sticking) 5:40;
Michael Phillips, BAB (high sticking) 8:49; Brad Schuler, SKIDMORE
(tripping) 12:15.
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  Shots on goal - SKIDMORE 9-13-16 38; BAB 16-19-12 47.
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  Power plays - SKIDMORE 0 of 6; BAB 1 of 3.
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  Penalties - SKIDMORE 3 (6 min); BAB 6 (12 min).
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  Goalies - SKIDMORE, Jack McDonald 5-6-7 (59:10 minutes, 47 shots-42
saves) , EMPTY NET (00:50, 0-0); BAB, Jamie Murray 16-3-1 (59:55,
38-35) , EMPTY NET (00:05, 0-0).
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  Penalty shots - None.
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A-250Â T-2:09Â Â Â
 Three stars: 1. None   2. None   3. None  Â
 Referee:Terry Ober; Brett Bolliver Linesman:Mitchell Granoff