BOSTON, Mass. – Senior Nick Craven (Fort Collins, Colo.) scored a pair of goals as the Wesleyan men's hockey team improved to 4-3-1 on the season with a 3-1 win over Wentworth in a non-conference contest played at Matthews Arena.
The Cardinals scored a pair of goals in the opening period as junior Tommy Hartnett (Bronxville, N.Y.) scored a shorthanded goal from senior Chris MacDonald (Hanover, Mass.) at 11:25. Wesleyan's special teams gave the visitors a 2-0 lead when Craven scored on the power play, assisted by senior Donald Kleckner (Alpharetta, Ga.) and junior Keith Buehler (Skaneateles, N.Y.), at 14:52.
Wesleyan increased its lead to 3-0 when sophomore Connor Ryan (Greenwood, Minn.) and senior Micah Ehiorobo (Farmingdale, Maine) set up Craven with 1:27 left in the second period.
The Leopards broke the shutout with 32 seconds left in the contest on a goal from junior Cameron Gibson (Valencia, Calif.), which was assisted by sophomore Beau Burgau (New Ulm, Minn.) and freshman Mike Cox (Marlborough, Mass.).
Freshman Nolan Daley (Exeter, N.H.) held Wentworth off the scoreboard for the first 59:28, turning aside 34 shots, including 14 in the third period. Wentworth sophomore Alex Peck (Kirkland, Que.) made 25 saves for the Leopards, who held a 35-28 shot advantage.
The Cardinals are idle until Dec. 28 when they face host Plattsburgh, ranked seventh in both the USCHO.com and D3Hockey.com polls, in the Cardinal Classic. Wentworth, which falls to 5-4-1, plays No. 13/12 Manhattanville in the opening round of the Middlebury Holiday Classic on Dec. 30.
