(With contributions from Babson College Sports Information)

            WELLESLEY, Mass. – Junior Connor Berto (Lake Forest, Ill.) scored a pair of goals Friday evening to lead the Babson College Beavers to a 4-2 victory over the University of Southern Maine Huskies in ECAC Men's East hockey action at the Babson Skating Center.

            The win was the third straight for the Beavers, and improved their record to 3-2-2 overall and 2-2-1 in league play.  The Huskies had their three-game winning streak snapped and fell to 4-3-0 overall and 3-3-0 in the league.  The two sides will meet again on February 9 at the USM Ice Arena.

            Berto snapped a 2-2 tie midway through the second period with his second goal of the game, and team-leading sixth of the season.  Berto took a pass from senior PT Donato (Arlington, Mass.) and beat USM freshman goalie Josh Hillegas (Middleton, Wis.) over the shoulder at 10:21.

            Just over three minutes later, senior Matt Leer (Edina, Minn.) gave the home side an insurance marker when he fired home the rebound of a shot by junior Nik Tasiopoulos (Norwell, Mass.).

            Junior Matt O'Neill (Norwell, Mass.) and Berto gave Babson a 2-0 lead before the game was eight minutes old.  O'Neill converted a pass from senior Ryan Smith (Lynnfield, Mass.) into his first marker of the season at 2:07.  Berto took a pass from junior Ben Kravitz (Huntington, N.Y.) at the top of the left wing circle and beat Hillegas at 7:37.

            Sophomore Lorne Miller (Montreal, Quebec) cut the deficit in half for USM when he lit the lamp at 8:46 of the first period with an unassisted goal.  The goal was the second of the season for Miller.

            Junior Mike Greene (Arvada, Colo.) drew the Huskies even at 5:26 of the second period with his first goal of the season.  Junior Troy Thibodeau (Danvers, Mass.) and rookie Pier-Michel Lapointe (St. Georges, Quebec) picked up the assists.

            Babson rookie goalie Jamie Murray (Scituate, Mass.) stopped 19 shots to earn his fourth win of the season. Hillegas had 26 saves for USM before being lifted for the extra attacker with 1:25 to play.

            Southern Maine travels to the University of Massachusetts Boston on Saturday (4:00 p.m.) for an ECAC East game.  Babson will host the University of New England on Saturday (4:00 p.m.).