BABSON PARK, Mass. – The Keene State College men's ice hockey team allowed two goals late in the first period, one down a man, to fall behind 2-0, and the Owls never recovered, losing at Babson College 5-0 in the Little East Conference opener for both sides Friday night at the Babson Skating Center.
Coming off a 3-14-1 record in their inaugural season, the Owls (0-2-0) had hoped to continue to build momentum after a more productive second trip around the league later last season despite missing the six-team conference tournament field. Instead, for one night at least, it was a game KSC would rather forget, as they trailed 3-0 through two periods despite outshooting Babson (1-0-1), who tied St. Michael's College 5-5 before losing in a shootout at home last weekend in their season opener, 16-14. The Owls managed just seven shots on goal in the final 20 minutes, surrendering a game-high 13 Beaver shots in the same period as the home team scored twice more, with Jimmy Fallon completing a hat trick with 5:01 to go.
The Babson leader was also responsible for blowing the game open earlier, scoring on the power play with 3:08 to go in the first to double a 1-0 advantage after Declan Grenache had opened the scoring at 14:18 of the period. He then scored again with 1:21 to go in the second to make it 3-0, with four of KSC's five goals allowed coming within the final five minutes of periods.
The Owls are still searching for their first 5-on-5 goal of the season, having been held off the scoresheet at even strength for the opening 121:34 of the season. KSC saw
Thor Hansen and
Marcus Chrisafideis both score on the man advantage in a 3-2 overtime loss to St. Anselm College last weekend but have now been held scoreless for four straight periods and 1:34 of an overtime period.
Tonight's contest saw just three penalties called, one of which came when Babson had too many men on the ice just 4:13 in. But KSC managed just one shot on that power play opportunity (with Babson also having one shot) and was unable to generate momentum.
"We were just not very good tonight," said Owls head coach Bobby Rodrigue. "This effort was a disappointment. Too many passengers and too many free agents tonight. The boys will need to regroup quickly for tomorrow."
Mason Rosado made 23 saves to post the shutout win for Babson while
Ben Skelton stopped 22 shots for KSC. The Beavers have won all three all-time meetings, 4-1 in Keene last November and 3-1 in Massachusetts in January.
The Owls travel to take on the University of Southern Maine (0-1-1, 0-0-1 LEC) tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. The Huskies lost to then-No. 7 Endicott College 4-2 at home last weekend and tied against Western Connecticut State University 4-4 tonight before prevailing in the shootout 1-0. KSC lost both to the Huskies last season, including a 6-5 overtime decision in Gorham after being blanked 3-0 at Keene Ice in November.
