Box Score NOTHFIELD, Vt.—The second-seeded Babson University men's ice hockey team stunned the top-seeded Cadets of Norwich University with two third-period goals en route to the 2-1 win in the ECAC East men's ice hockey championship game.
With the win, the Beavers claim their second straight ECAC Championship title. Babson goaltender Jamie Murray registered 38 saves in the win and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Babson also placed forward Nik Tasiopoulos and defenseman Ryan Heavey on the All-Tournament team, while Norwich forwards Dean Niezgoda (Brewster, Mass.) and Tyler Piacentini (South Weymouth, Mass.) and defenseman Erik Lyrvall (Falun, Sweeden) were also All-Tournament selections.
Norwich tallied the first goal of the game, as Travis Janke (Swift Current, Sask.) passed the puck from behind the net to Piacentini, who fired the slapshot past Murray at the 12:42 mark. The Cadets had 13 other shots on net in the first period, but Murray made the stop in every other instance. Norwich held a 14-3 shots-on-goal advantage entering the first intermission.
After a scoreless second period, the Beavers wasted no time striking in the third, as Troy Starrett scored just 12 seconds into the period. Ryan Heavey and Shayne Anderson were credited with assists.
The game was evenly matched for the next 10 minutes, until Norwich's Anthony Flaherty (South Boston, Mass.) was called for a tripping penalty. With the momentum swinging in the Beavers' favor, the visitors needed just 19 seconds of the extra-man advantage to net what would prove to be the game-winning goal. Andrew Bonazza fed the puck to Tasiopoulos, who netted his 12th goal of the season.
Babson's Max Franklin took a penalty at 14:12 of the period to give Norwich a power play opportunity. Norwich called timeout to set up the offense, but the Cadets managed just two shots on net during the two-minute extra-man advantage.
Norwich would pull goaltender Chris Czarnota (Wakefield, Mass.) with 50 seconds remaining in the game and Norwich's Janke peppered Murray with three quick shots on net, but the Babson goaltender denied all chances for a Norwich equalizer.
Czarnota recorded 14 saves in net for the Cadets. Norwich outshot the Beavers 39-16 on the evening, including an 11-6 advantage in the third period.
Babson (22-4-2) is guaranteed a slot in the NCAA tournament due to the ECAC East's auto-bid. The Cadets (19-6-3) will await word on an at-large bid. NCAA tournament seeding will be announced Sunday evening at 10 p.m. on www.ncaa.com.
