Middlebury continued to struggle as they fell 4-2 at Babson. The Panthers are now 1-3-1 in their last five contests and will return to action at UMass.-Boston on Saturday afternoon.
Trailing 2-1 after two periods of play, Babson scored three unanswered goals in a five-minute stretch in the third. The Beavers tied the game at 2-2 when Chris Wood shook off a big hit at the Middlebury blue line and dumped a perfect feed to Jason Schneider, who raced past a defender and beat goalie Doug Raeder inside the right post at 11:59. Less than four minutes later, Gabriel Chenard-Poirier intercepted a pass at center ice and rushed up the left side, where he crossed the puck to Pat McLaughlin cutting across the crease. McLaughlin followed with a beautiful fake to the right before backhanding a shot past Raeder on the stick side to put Babson in front, 3-2, with 4:21 to play.
Just over a minute after McLaughlin's go-ahead score, great defense once again led to a key goal for the Beavers as a poke-check at center ice sent Schneider streaking down the right side. The sophomore forward then fired a centering pass to Wood, who tipped the puck over Raeder's left shoulder with a spectacular diving effort to make it 4-2 with just 3:13 left in the game. The Panthers pulled the goalie for an extra skater over the final 2:05, including the last 17 seconds on a powerplay, but Babson allowed just one shot on net during that span en route to the 4-2 victory.
Middlebury took a 1-0 lead midway through the first period, as Jack Kinder hit a screen shot from the blue line that found its way past goalie Skylar Nipps at 9:39. Babson tied the game with a powerplay goal at 15:07 of the second, as Alex DiPietro's slapper from the blue line caromed out to John Geverd, who lifted a shot over Raeder from a tough angle on the right side of the crease. The Beavers' momentum would be short-lived, however, as Middlebury regained the lead when Chaz Svoboda took a feed from Mason Graddock behind the net and backhanded a shot into the lower left corner at 16:18.
Nipps was solid in goal for Babson, finishing with 24 saves while playing all 60 minutes. Raeder played all but two minutes in net for Middlebury, stopping 21 shots.
