SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.-The Skidmore College ice hockey team begins its final playoff push this weekend, taking on #9/10 UMass Boston Friday before hosting #7 Babson on Saturday.

FREE SHUTTLE TO BOTH GAMES:
A shuttle from the Case Center will be provided for both games for Skidmore students. Details are listed below

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Skidmore (4-12-3, 3-8-1 ECAC East) vs. #9/10 UMass Boston (15-3-1, 10-2 ECAC East)

Game Details: Friday, Jan. 30 - 7 p.m. | Saratoga Springs, N.Y. | Saratoga City Rink

SCOUTING THE THOROUGHBREDS (4-12-3, 3-8-1 ECAC East): Skidmore went 1-0-1 in a pair of ECAC East contests last weekend, tying Saint Anselm, 4-4, before knocking off New England College, 3-1...Sophomore forward Anthony Bird had an assist against Saint Anselm and tallied two goals against New England College, earning him a place on the ECAC East weekly honor roll...Sophomore goalie Jack McDonald was also named to the weekly honor roll after making 72 saves over the two games, including a season-high 42 against the Pilgrims...Sophomore forward Marc Cibelli had multi-point games in both contests, registering a goal and an against the Hawks and two helpers against New England.

STATISTICS: Bird (3G, 4A) and Cibelli (3G, 5A) have registered points in four of Skidmore's last five conference games...Bird is tied for seventh in the league with 13 assists and ranks ninth with 19 points...Cibelli is tied for 10th in the conference with nine goals and 11th with 18 points...McDonald has a .907 save percentage against conference opponents this season...Freshman blueliner Connor Pelkey has four power play goals, tying him for third in the league...The Thoroughbreds are 2-1-2 over their last five games...Skidmore is 3-0 when leading after two periods.

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SCOUTING THE BEACONS (5-10-1, 4-6-1 ECAC East): UMass Boston split a home-and-home with #7 Babson last weekend, falling 4-2 on the road before topping the Beavers, 4-3, in overtime...Freshman forward Colin Larkin netted three goals over the weekend, including the game-tying and game-winning goals Saturday...Senior forward Stephen Buco had a goal on Friday and added a goal and an assist on Saturday...Junior goalie Billy Faust turned away 41 shots Saturday after stopping 19 of 20 shots in 33:33 of relief on Friday, earning ECAC East Goaltender of the Week honors.

STATISTICS: Buco (13G, 20A) and senior forward Mike Kuhn (10G, 15A) rank 1-2 in the league in scoring...Buco has a conference-best 20 assists and four game-winning goals...Larkin leads all ECAC East rookies with 18 points (8G, 10A)...Junior forward Peter MacIntyre is fifth in the conference with 22 points (7G, 15A)...Junior netminder Zach Andrews has a 2.17 goals aagainst average and a .924 save percentage against conference opponents...The Beacons average a league-high 4.63 goals per game...They have outscored league opponents 20-6 in the third period...UMass Boston is 7-0 when leading after the first period, 10-0 when leading after two and 11-1 when scoring first.

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LAST MEETING: Nov. 22, 2014 at UMass Boston
Skidmore 1, UMass Boston 6

#11 UMass Boston downs Thoroughbreds, 6-1

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vs. #7 Babson (14-3-2, 9-2-1 ECAC East)

Game Details: Saturday, Jan. 31 - 4 p.m. | Saratoga Springs, N.Y. | Saratoga City Rink

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS (14-3-2, 9-2-1 ECAC East): Babson skated to a 4-2 home win over #9/#10 UMass Boston in the first game of last weekend's home-and-home before falling 4-3 in overtime on Saturday...Sophomore forward Bill Seligman netted two goals and added an assist Friday and scored once on Saturday.

STATISTICS: Seligman leads the league with eight goals against conference opponents this season...His 14 points in conference contests tie him with teammate Mike Vollmin (3G, 11A) for fourth...Vollmin has produced seven power-play points (1G, 7A) in ECAC East competition...He leads all ECAC East defensemen with 19 points and is second in the league with 16 assists...Sophomore forward Michael Phillips has five power-play goals this season...Junior goaltender Jamie Murray leads the league with a .944 save percentage and ranks third with a 1.53 goals against average...Babson second in the league in goals against average (1.53) and third in scoring offense (4.0 goals per game)...The Beavers have the conference's top power play (29.3%)...Babson is 9-1 when leading after the first and 13-1-1 when leading after two...The Beavers are 1-3 in one-goal games and 4-3-1 on the road...Babson has outscored conference opponents 24-7 in the second period.

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LAST MEETING: Nov. 21, 2014 at Babson
Skidmore 1, Babson 6

Skidmore falls to ECAC East leader Babson

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NEXT UP:
The Thoroughbreds travel to Saint Michael's next Friday before playing at #1 Norwich Saturday.