Babson Men's Hockey Beats Castleton 3-1 in Little East Matchup

Spartan Arena saw a flurry of offense on Saturday afternoon as the Babson College men’s ice hockey team erupted for three goals in the span of four minutes during the second period, securing a 3-1 victory over Vermont State University Castleton in a Little East Conference matchup.

The win lifts the Beavers to 3-1-1 overall and 3-1-0 in conference play, marking three victories in their last four outings. Meanwhile, Castleton saw a three-game unbeaten streak come to an end, sliding to 1-3-2 overall and 1-1-2 in the Little East.

First-years Declan Grenache of Sutton, Massachusetts, and Nolan Russell of Arlington, Massachusetts, along with senior Jimmy Fallon of Milton, Massachusetts, found the back of the net for Babson. Junior Evan Brown of Little Silver, New Jersey, contributed a pair of assists to power the attack.

After a scoreless opening frame that featured a 12-8 shooting advantage for the hosts, Babson came alive in the first eight minutes of the second period. Grenache broke the deadlock at 3:32 with a power-play strike, taking a feed from Griffin Bucci near the right face-off dot before skating to the left circle and snapping a shot inside the glove-side post for his third goal of the season.

Just 52 seconds later, the Beavers doubled the lead. Castleton goaltender Lukas Bukatovs turned away a bid from CJ Beals with his left pad, but Brown pushed the rebound to a wide-open Fallon at the right post. Fallon buried his sixth goal of the season at 4:24 to make it 2-0.

Russell extended the advantage to three goals at 7:29 following a turnover at the center red line. After a give-and-go with Brown near the right circle, Russell beat Bukatovs cleanly for his third score of the campaign.

Castleton answered at 8:05 of the third period when Simon Semancik capitalized on a loose puck in the crease after Babson goaltender Blake Truchon lost track of the play. Trevor Castino and Adrian Mendoza picked up the assists on the lone tally for the Spartans.

Truchon, a first-year from South Burlington, Vermont, made 22 saves on 23 shots across 48 minutes in his collegiate debut. Fellow first-year Caden Pasqualone closed out the final 12 minutes in relief, stopping all six shots he faced. Bukatovs finished with 26 saves for Castleton.

Special teams played a minimal role in a disciplined contest that whistled just two minor penalties against each side. Babson went 1-2 on the power play while killing off both Castleton attempts with the man advantage.

The Beavers play their third straight LEC road game next Saturday at Southern Maine, with opening face-off scheduled for 6 p.m. in Gorham, Maine. Castleton continues a six-game homestand, hosting UMass Boston on Friday at 7 p.m. inside Spartan Arena.

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