BABSON PARK, Mass.—Junior forward Andrew Bonazza (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia) scored the go-ahead goal on a power play midway through the third period, helping nationally-ranked Babson College to a season-opening 2-1 victory over visiting Curry College in non-conference men's ice hockey action on Saturday night at the Babson Skating Center.

Senior Connor Berto (Lake Forest, Ill.) also scored the for the Beavers (No. 10 USCHO.com/No. 12 D3hockey.com), who got assists from seniors Ryan Heavey (Andover, Mass.) and Nik Tasiopoulos (Norwell, Mass.), as well as first-year Michael Phillips (Richmond Heights, Ohio).

First-year James Murphy (Malden, Mass.) notched his first career goal for the Colonels, while sophomore Ryan Gay (Nesconset, N.Y.) and first-year Michael Vallescuro (Woodbridge, Ontario) each chipped in with an assist.

The teams battled through a scoreless first period with each team taking three penalties before successfully killing them off. Berto finally opened the scoring just 3:33 into the second period, taking advantage of Babson's third power play opportunity of the night. Phillips won a face-off in the right slot and fed Berto, who beat Curry junior goalie Derek Mohney (Amherst, N.Y.) for a 1-0 lead.

The Colonels came right back though, as Murphy leveled the score with a shot from just inside the blue line 1:37 later with the teams playing 4-on-4. Gay helped dig the puck out of their defensive zone before Vallescuro found Murphy streaking up the left wing, leading to the goal.

The Beavers killed off a pair of penalties late in the second period and got a huge save from sophomore goalie Jamie Murray (Scituate, Mass.) on Vallescuro just 1:40 into the third period, who came breaking in as part of a 2-on-1, to keep the game deadlocked. Bonazza then gave Babson the lead for good with 9:48 remaining in the third period. The Green and White won the face-off following a Colonels penalty, and Heavey's initial blast from the point was saved by Mohney. Tasiopoulos got to the rebound, though, and found Bonazza at the right post for the go-ahead score.

Curry pulled Mohney for an extra skater with 1:29 remaining and produced one final flurry, but Murray made three saves and watched as three other attempts went wide, helping the Beavers hold on for the victory.

Murray made 25 saves for the Green and White, while his counterpart Mohney stopped 38 shots on the night for the Colonels.

Babson held a 40-26 advtange in shots and a 45-30 edge in face-offs. Babson was 2-for-8 on the power play, and killed off all five of Curry's extra-man opportunities.

Babson returns to action on Friday when its hosts St. Anselm at 7 p.m. to open up ECAC East play, while Curry will travel to Westfield State on Thursday night for a 7:35 p.m. start.