Box Score Wellesley, MA – The Williams College Ephs (1-2-0) came home from the holiday early to face the Babson College Beavers (5-3-2) in Williams' first out-of-conference game of the year. Williams would be in the penalty box early and often as Babson cruised to a 5-0 win in a game full of timely Beaver scoring. Babson entered the contest having gone 4-0-1 in their last five games, a skein that included wins over #10 Elmira and #1 Hobart
Williams would begin the game shorthanded after they conceded a penalty just 25 seconds into the contest.
Cal Sandquist needed to make two big saves – registering 28 on the day – but the Ephs would kill it off with no real worry. They used this as momentum to control the next section of the game, finding a majority of the chances. Despite this, Babson would strike first off a well executed 2v2 rush to take the 1-0 lead midway through the first. Williams would attempt to bounce back and retain possession of the puck, but another rush against the run of play resulted in a 2-0 Beavers lead. The teams would share chances in the final minutes but the Ephs would skate into the locker room down two.
Babson would keep the ball rolling in the second period as the Ephs went a man down early once again. A quick pass across the slot found a Beaver wide open back-door to make the score 3-0. The goals wouldn't stop there as Babson would deposit off the rush for the third time, extending the lead to four. The Ephs battled back in the second period with a flurry of chances from
Jonah Gold,
David Vieten,
Conner Fitzpatrick, and
Connor Berg, to no avail. Even after the Ephs went on a power play, the first goal would not fall and
Cal Sandquist was called upon to make a big breakaway save. The period would end with Babson up 4-0.
The Beavers came out in the third period like a team playing with the lead, controlled and calculated. The possession was split evenly between the teams with the Ephs desperate for a goal. Midway through the period, however, it would be Babson who found the back of the net off a fortuitous bounce to make the lead five. First-year goaltender,
Harrison Fogel, would make his collegiate debut late in the game and immediately was called upon to make a save. After a spell of possession, Babson would be sprung on a breakaway that was padded away by Fogel. Ultimately, the time would wind down on a tough day for the Ephs as they were shutout 5-0.
After the loss, Eph head coach
Bill Kangas said, "We did not play true to who we are, we will have a lot to look over. We worked hard throughout the game, but we needed to shore up our 1v1 battles if we wanted to beat a team like Babson. The good news is we get to play tomorrow against a very tough Geneseo team".
The Ephs will look to bounce back as they head home to face SUNY Geneseo ranked 5th nationally in their home opener. The puck drop is slated for 3:00 PM in Lansning Chapman Rink.
