By Mark Edwards

Gorham, ME – Terry Woods supplied a hat trick and freshman goaltender Zeke Testa paced Babson College to a 5-1 victory over the University of Southern Maine Huskies on Saturday. The win, Babson’s second in as many nights, handed USM its first loss since January 8th. Both teams were playing on back-to-back nights.

“We have trouble on the second (game), and we have two or three key people out so we don’t have quite the depth we had earlier,” said Southern Maine Head Coach Jeff Beaney.

Southern Maine was thoroughly outplayed in the first period, surrendering the first three goals of the game. Terry Woods opened the scoring at 5:14 with a tenacious play at center ice. Woods forced a turnover and drove hard to the net, sneaking a low shot through the pads of Huskies goalie Mason St. Hillarie to give Babson the 1-0 lead.

Less than four minutes later, Casey Fazekas extended Babson’s lead to 2-0 with a slap shot from just inside the blue line. Shane Ferrell and PT Donato registered assists on the power play goal.

St. Hillarie made a point blank stop on Terry Woods late in the period, but could not prevent him from directing the loose puck off of the crossbar and into the net. Mike Hobson and Ryan Smith assisted on Wood’s second goal of the game, stretching the lead to 3-0.

“It was a good weekend. We finally started playing the way we can. We were skating hard and I think when we stay on out legs we can do some really good things,” said an upbeat Terry Woods after the game.

USM Coach Beaney was not quite as thrilled.

“Pretty much the first 15 minutes is when the game was decided,” Beaney concluded.

The Huskies came out with an improved effort in the second period. Captain Chris Travis capitalized on a partial breakaway at 8:39, using his size and strength to protect the puck before deaking to his backhand and sliding the puck underneath the outstretched pad of Zeke Testa. Dan Rautenberg and Jon Rutt contributed helpers on Travis’s eighth goal of the season and the lone goal of the middle frame.

Any momentum USM had built through two periods faded away in the third when Terry Woods completed his hat trick. Woods converted from in close with a soft shot that snaked through the pads of Hillarie. Dan Ahern and Casey Fazekas orchestrated the play with crisp passing along the perimeter.

With a 4-1 lead and approximately twelve minutes to go in regulation, Beavers forward PT Donato capped the scoring with an unassisted breakaway goal. Donato stole the puck at the Babson blue line just as USM’s power play was expiring and darted down the ice en route to his fifth goal of the season.

Freshman goalie Zeke Testa earned his third win of year with a 25 save performance. At the other end, Mason St. Hillarie managed 23 saves on 28 shots.

Babson College finished 2-for-5 with the man advantage. Southern Maine went 0-for-5.

Up Next: Sunday, January 24th vs. the USA Under-18 Team at the Sullivan Sports Complex in Gorham, ME. Puck drops at 4:00 p.m. ET.