Middlebury opened up its second semester with a 4-0 win over Babson at the 18th annual Middlebury College Holiday Classic. The Panthers advance to the title game on Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. against S. Maine. Babson will take part in the consolation game at 4:00 p.m. against Salve Regina. The shutout win over Babson was the first for Middlebury since they earned three straight shutouts over the Beavers in '99, '00 and '01.

After a scoreless first period, Middlebury scored three second period goals on its way to the victory. Mathieu Dubuc gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead just 1:01 into the period, wristing home a shot from the right circle after a feed from John Sullivan. Nick Resor was next, with a power play goal at 13:11, tipping in an outside blast from Chris Steele. Martin Drolet scored his fifth of the season with 2:50 left in the period, breaking in and scoring with a shot off the back crossbar.

Bryan Curran added a third period power play goal for the Panthers at 1:58, finishing off a rebound after a shot by Dubuc was saved.

Senior Max Kennedy earned his first career shutout in goal, improving to 2-0 overall in his career with a 14-save effort. Andrew Peabody made 28 stops between the pipes for the Beavers.

Box Score