BOSTON, Mass.—Junior goalie Sam Best (Woburn, Mass.) made 39 saves to lead UMass Boston men's hockey past rival #6 Babson College 4-3 on Boston State/Alumni Day Saturday at the Edward T. Barry Ice Rink. 
 
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 4, #6 Babson College 3
(UMass Boston 4-1-1, New England Hockey Conference 3-0-1) 
(Babson College 3-1-1, New England Hockey Conference 2-1-1) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Best made 20 of his career-high 39 saves in the second period alone, to backstop the Beacons to their first win over a nationally-ranked program since a 4-2 win over #12 Hobart College on November 30, 2018. Best stopped 11 shots in the first period, 20 more in the second and nine in the third period to stay unbeaten on the season (4-0-1). 
 
Freshman Alex Duncan (Andover, Mass.) opened his scoring account with the first two collegiate goals of his career. 
 
Senior Ethan Nitkin (Miami Beach, Fla.) and junior Jake Adkins (Centennial, Colo.) added a goal apiece to help the Beacons snap a two-game losing streak against the Beavers. 
 
Evan Rochowiak (Livonia, Mich.) and Chris Peters (Fairport, N.Y.) each chipped in two assists in the victory. 
 
Colby Bailey, Cam Schmitt and Chris Rooney each scored for the visitors, who suffered their first loss of the campaign. 
 
In net, graduate student Brad Arvanitis made 36 saves on 40 shots in his third collegiate loss (14-3-2). 
 
UMass Boston came out firing in the first period and used an aggressive forecheck to keep the Beavers pinned in their own zone for most of the stanza. 
 
After dominating the open six-plus minutes, UMass Boston finally lit the lamp at 6:58. Off a face-off win by Andy Walker (Detroit, Mich.), graduate student Evan Heldt (Sylvania, Ohio) sent a hard shot purposefully wide of the net that caromed back to the front and Nitkin collected the puck and snuck a shot inside the near post as Arvanitis scrambled to get into position.
 
The Beacons doubled their lead at 14:10. Duncan skated into the zone along the near boards and ripped a quick wrister that went over Arvanitis' shoulder for a 2-0 advantage. 
 
Babson would flip the switch in the second period and totally control the play. After a first period with zero total penalties, the Beavers earned four power-play opportunities in the second. Despite having the majority of the chances in the period, Babson struggled to break down Best who anchored the Beacons penalty kill.
 
The Beavers finally got on the scoreboard at 14:42 on a 5-on-3 goal. Sophomore defenseman Colby Bailey rifled a shot that snuck through Best's pads for Bailey's first collegiate goal. 
 
After getting into the second intermission still leading 2-1, UMass Boston bounced back in a big way and looked like the same team that controlled the play in the first period. 
 
Duncan gave the Beacons a two-goal cushion at 8:09 of the period. UMass Boston's top line of Rochowiak and Peters used some crisp passing to get into the zone and Rochowiak left a pass for a trailing Duncan who ripped a shot past Arvanitis. 
 
The Beacons took a 4-1 lead just over two minutes later. Freshman defenseman Nolan Barrett (Wayne, N.J.) sent a shot from the near boards that bounced off Arvanitis' pads to a wide-open Adkins who shoveled the puck in for a three-goal lead at 10:27. 
 
Babson wouldn't go down quietly though. The Beavers made it 4-2 on a Schmitt goal at 11:31 and Rooney tacked on a second Beavers goal at 12:14. 
 
UMass Boston limited Babson to just three shots on goal over the final 7:46 to close out the victory. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Babson earned a slight 42-40 edge in shots and a 36-28 advantage in face-offs.
• With the win, UMass Boston moved into sole possession of first place in the NEHC Standings. The Beacons are one of four unbeaten teams left in the conference and at 3-0-1 have 10 points through their first four games. 
• The Beavers went 1-4 on the power-play and UMass Boston finished 0-1. 
• Best's previous career-high in saves was 36 against Norwich on January 31, 2020. His 39 saves this afternoon were 10 more than his previous season-high. 
• UMass Boston improved to 19-44-6 all-time against the Beavers with the win. The Beacons have won three of the past four meetings at the Edward T. Barry Ice Rink. 
• The two sides were previously travel partners in the ECAC East and NEHC but they were split up before the 2021-22 season. UMass Boston will travel to take on Babson on January 21, 2022. 

WHO'S NEXT 
 
UMass Boston will play their second-straight nationally ranked team and third of the season, when they travel to take on #4 Hobart College on Friday at 7 p.m.