NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Sophomore forward Jay Haseley (Rochester, N.Y.) scored one goal and assisted on the eventual game-winner to lead no. 5 seeded Babson over no. 2 seeded Castleton, 4-3, in the semifinal round of the ECAC Division III Men's East Tournament at Kreitzberg Arena on Friday night.
The Beavers improve to 11-13-3 overall on the season and advance to the finals against the reigning Division III men's hockey national champions, Norwich University, at Kreitzberg Arena tomorrow at 7 pm. The Spartans season comes to a close at 22-4-1 overall.
Babson jumped out to an early 1-0 lead at 6:07 of the first period as junior forward Mike Hoban (Medfield, Mass.) whistled a wrist shot over the blocker of Castleton goaltender Erick Cinotti (Mahwah, N.J.) for his ninth goal of the season.
Haseley pushed the Beavers ahead, 2-0, at 12:33 cleaning up a loose puck in front of the net past Cinotti for his seventh marker of the season.
In the second period on the penalty kill, senior forward Terry Woods (Duxbury, Mass.) intercepted a pass inside Castleton's defensive zone and buried a backhander by Cinotti for his second goal of the season at 4:29 to give Babson a 3-0 advantage.
The Spartans responded with two goals late in the stanza to close the gap to 3-2 before intermission.
Freshman defenseman Dru Douglas (Whitby, Ont.) potted his second goal of the season at 18:26 wristing home a pass from teammate Dan Bell (Victoria, B.C.) behind Beavers' goaltender Zeke Testa (Wellesley, Mass.) from the slot to make it 3-1.
Moments later at 19:08, freshman forward Colin Murray (Oshawa, Ont.) cut the deficit to 3-2 with a wrister over Testa's blocker for his eighth tally of the season.
In the third, Babson reclaimed a two goal advantage pushing the score to 4-2 at the 9:28 mark as sophomore forward Ryan Smith (Lynnfield, Mass.) blasted a slapshot from the top of the point through Cinotti's five-hole for his 10th goal of the season. Haseley picked up his 10th helper facilitating the score.
Three minutes later the Spartans answered back as ECAC East Player of the Year Josh Harris (Torrance, Calif.) drilled home a rebound just outside of the crease over Testa's glove for his 16th marker of the season to cut the gap to 4-3. Freshman defenseman Ryan Delorme (Kanata, Ont.) recorded an assist on the tally.
With a little over one minute remaining in the third, Castleton pulled Cinotti for a 6-on-5 advantage but did not find the equalizer registering three shots total (one wide and two blocked).
Testa (6-10-3) turned away 23 shots in the victory for Babsob. Cinotti (12-2-1) made 17 saves in net for the Spartans.
