NORTHFIELD, Vt. - Nick Quagliani scored a pair of goals, and D.J. Fimiani, Eric Lauriault and Nikita Kashirsky each netted goals as the 11th-ranked Norwich men's hockey team defeated No. 9 Babson, 5-3, to secure the 2008 Times Argus Invitational championship.

Quagliani, who opened the scoring with 4:53 remaining in the first period, was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Chad Anderson was tabbed the tourney's "Rookie of the Tournament", while Lauriault and Ryan Klingensmith were selected to the all-tournament team.

Norwich extended its win streak to six straight games to improve to 8-2-0 on the season. Babson, meanwhile, suffered its first loss of the year, as the Beavers drop to 7-1-2 overall.

NU outshot Babson, 8-5, in the opening 20 minutes and led 1-0 at the first intermission.

The offenses for both teams woke up in the second stanza as the two clubs combined for four goals in the frame.

D.J. Fimiani opened the period with a goal just 10 seconds into the period to extend Norwich's lead to 2-0. Babson answered Fimiani's goal with one of its own as Pat McLaughlin found the back of the net just 1:18 into the period. Just about a minute later, Quagliani netted his second goal of the game to give the Cadets a 3-1 lead with 17:28 still to play in the second stanza.

Babson's Matt Harrington pulled the Beavers to within 3-2 heading into the third period when he scored at the 12:10 mark of the second.

Lauriault scored what proved to be the game-winning goal with 12:50 to play in the third period when he converted on the power play. Nikita Kashirsky added an insurance tally at the midway point of the frame when he fired a laser past Babson goaltender Skylar Nipps.

Jason Schneider scored a power play goal with 8:13 remaining in the period, but Klingensmith shut the door on the Beavers down the stretch as the Cadets held on for the victory. Babson peppered Klingensmith with 17 shots in the final period, but the sophomore goaltender was up to the task, stopping all but one of them.

Klingensmith finished the game with 26 saves. Nipps finished with 16 saves for Babson

Norwich will conclude its seven-game homestand on Tuesday, Jan. 8, when the Cadets play host to nationally-ranked Plattsburgh at 7 p.m. at Kreitzberg Arena. Norwich and Plattsburgh met earlier this season in the Primelink Shootout championship game, with the Cardinals taking a 5-3 decision in Plattsburgh, N.Y. The game will be available on the radio (WDEV: AM-550, FM-96.1) or on the internet (http://www.cadetsradio.com/), with George Commo handling play-by-play duties.