PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Top-seeded Norwich University and second-seeded Babson College will play for the first-ever Little East Conference (LEC) Men's Ice Hockey Championship Tournament title, presented by Townshend Hockey, following Saturday's semifinal round victories. Norwich will host the title game March 7 at 7 p.m.

No. 1 Norwich 6, No. 5 UMass Boston 0
By Norwich Athletics

The Norwich Men's Ice Hockey team delivered a commanding performance on Saturday night, shutting out UMass Boston 6–0 in front of a packed Kreitzberg Arena to complete the Little East Conference (LEC) semifinal sweep and punch its ticket to the LEC Championship Game.

Behind a balanced offensive attack and stellar goaltending from Sami Molu (Toronto, Ont.), the Cadets controlled the contest from start to finish. Linemates Ben van Waterschoot (Whitby, Ont.) and Zach Ophoven (Burlington, Ont.) each recorded three points, while fellow linemate Nick Cordeiro (Mississauga, Ont.) added two assists. Molu anchored the defensive effort with 30 saves, securing his second shutout of the season.

UMass Boston tested Norwich early, generating several quality looks in the opening minutes while holding the Cadets without a shot until the nine-minute mark. Molu stood tall through the early pressure, tracking pucks cleanly and turning aside the Beacons' early chances.

Norwich broke through with just over seven minutes remaining in the first period. Ophoven kept the puck alive at the blue line before Cordeiro tracked it down in the right corner. Cordeiro quickly centered the puck to van Waterschoot in the slot, and he buried the chance to give Norwich a 1–0 lead on the Cadets' second shot of the night against UMass Boston goaltender Connor McDonough.

Both teams traded chances through the remainder of the period before penalties to both sides resulted in four-on-four play carrying into the second period.
The parade to the penalty box continued early in the middle frame, but once the teams returned to five-on-five play, Norwich took firm control of the game.

Halfway through the period, the Cadets doubled their advantage. Boyd Stahlbaum (Peterborough, Ont.) recovered the puck below the goal line and moved it to Ocean Fancy (Orleans, Mass.) at the point. Fancy slid the puck across to defensive partner Matt Harvey (Fort Covington, N.Y.), whose wrist shot found its way through traffic and past McDonough to make it 2–0.

Just three minutes later, Norwich extended the lead again. Niko Benjamin (Surprise, Ariz.) forced a turnover deep in the offensive zone. He quickly fed Owen Sclisizzi (Milton, Ont.), who found Jed Brazo (Homer, N.Y.) alone on the doorstep for the finish. The goal pushed the lead to three and prompted a goaltending change, with Alex Koenig entering in relief of McDonough.

UMass Boston pushed back late in the period, generating a brief surge in the Norwich zone, but Molu remained sharp and preserved the 3–0 advantage heading into the second intermission.

The Cadets wasted little time adding to their lead in the third period. Just three minutes into the frame, Ophoven cleaned up a rebound off a Fancy point shot to make it 4–0.
Following a brief flurry from the Beacons, Molu turned aside, and Norwich capitalized on a two-man advantage. During a two-minute 5-on-3 power play, Ophoven struck again, finishing off the opportunity to extend the Cadets' lead to five.

Norwich capped the scoring midway through the third period during four-on-four play. Cooper Bertrand (Caledon, Ont.) jumped into the attack and buried the Cadets' sixth goal of the night, putting the finishing touches on the dominant semifinal performance.

No. 2 Babson 4, No. 3 Plymouth State 0
By Babson Athletics

Senior Nate Mueller (Rogers, Minn.) made 30 saves in goal and the line of senior Egan Schmitt (Schuylerville, N.Y.), junior Jimmy Fallon (Milton, Mass.) and sophomore Evan Brown (Little Silver, N.J.) combined for all four goals and nine points in all as 13th-ranked and second-seeded Babson College blanked third-seeded Plymouth State University, 4-0, in a Little East Conference men's ice hockey tournament semifinal on Saturday afternoon inside the Babson Skating Center.

With the victory, Babson improves to 20-4-2 on the season and advances to the inaugural LEC men's hockey tournament championships game next Saturday in Northfield, Vt., against top-seeded Norwich, which shut out fifth-seeded UMass Boston (6-0) in Saturday's other semifinal. Plymouth State winds up its season at 15-11-1 overall.

Schmitt finished with two goals and two assists, Fallon contributed a goal and an assist, and Brown produced a goal and two assists in the victory. Fellow seniors Charlie Andriole (Branford, Conn.) and Will Holland (Charlotte, N.C.) and sophomore Raphael Marcoux (Quebec City, Que.) registered assists and Mueller made 13 saves in the third period to finish off his first shutout of the season and the third of his career.

Junior Connor Strobel (Butler, Pa.) made 31 saves in the PSU goal as Babson outshot the Panthers 35-30.

After a scoreless first period in which Babson had a 13-7 shot advantage, the Beavers took the lead with one of the prettiest goals of the season. Schmitt skated between two PSU defensemen and sent a behind-the-back pass from the bottom of the right circle to Brown in the slot, and Brown spun around and dropped a blind reverse between-the-legs pass to Fallon who was following the play, and Fallon buried his team leading 19th goal of the season at 3:08 of the second period.

The 1-0 Babson lead remained until a pair of key plays early in the third period. PSU nearly tied the score during a 4-on-4 less than two minutes into the frame when a shot by first-year Tucker Shedd (Holt, Mich.) from just inside the blue line was deflected in front by junior Patrick O'Connell (West Chester, Pa.), but the puck rang off the right goal post. Babson collected the rebound and came down the ice, where Schmitt deked around a defender and ripped a shot from the right circle past Strobel just inside the left post for a 2-0 lead at 1:57 of the third.

The Beavers pulled away midway through the frame when Fallon fired a shot from the left circle that Strobel nearly stopped, but Brown buried the loose puck for a 3-0 lead at 9:03. The final dagger was a power play goal with 5:35 remaining as Schmitt slipped a shot inside the near post from the left circle for his second of the game and eighth of the season.

The Beavers finished 1-for-2 on the power play and killed off both Plymouth State attempts with a man-advantage.

GAME NOTES
• Babson captured all three games this season against Plymouth State and owns a 10-2-1 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to the 2002-03 season.
• Schmitt has four goals and six assists in six career games against Plymouth State.
• Fallon's 19 goals this season is the most for a Babson player since Ryan Black '22 notched 19 goals in 2021-22.
• Mueller improved his season record to 15-3-2, posting the most wins for a Babson goaltender since Hall of Fame goalie Jamie Murray '16 had 19 wins in 2014-15.
• Babson will be seeking its eighth conference championship in program history next Saturday at Norwich.