Wentworth Knocks Off Defending Champions

(Courtesy of Nichols Sports Information)

HARRISVILLE, R.I. – Sophomore forward Casey Shade (Anchorage, Alaska) had a goal and a pair of assists to lead the Wentworth Institute of Technology hockey team to a 4-2 ECAC Northeast victory over Nichols Wednesday evening at June R. Levy Rink. The Leopards remain unbeaten on the season at 6-0-1 and stand at a perfect 4-0 in conference games, while the Bison dip to 4-3-1 overall and 1-2-0 in league play after falling on the short end of the rematch of last year's conference championship tilt.

Shade put the Leopards on the board late in the first frame with a power-play marker. Shaun Jameson (Long Beach, Calif.) passed across the point to Dylan Barbieiri (Plainville, Mass.), who was stationed at the right side. Barbieiri crossed the puck through the slot to Shade, who one-timed it from the left circle for the 1-0 lead at 19:34.

Wentworth scored a pair of goals just over two minutes apart early in the second period to take a 3-0 lead, the first coming from Skylur Jameson (Long Beach, Calif.) at 2:24. Tyler Monteros (Diamond Bar, Calif.) fired from the right circle, but his shot was saved by Nichols netminder Jacob Rinn (Warwick, R.I.). The rebound slipped out to Shade, who tipped it across the netfront to Skylur Jameson for the goal.  Jeff Olitch (Calgary, Alberta) followed with a breakaway goal after drawing Rinn out to his right and sliding the puck in on his forehand in the empty left side at 4:38.

Zach Kohn (Hartland, Wis.) put Nichols on the board with a short-handed tally in the later part of the stanza, finishing off a two-on-one with Andrew Ella (Schomberg, Ontario). Ella carried the puck into the zone and centered the puck back for Kohn, who reached ahead to flick the puck in for his first career shorty at 15:09.

Wentworth converted on its sixth power play opportunity of the night early in the third period as Alan Dionne (No. Scituate, R.I.) ripped a slapshot from the left point that cleared Rinn's blocker. Shade set up the play with a pass to Jameson at the right point from the sideboards.

 Shortly after, Nichols had a five-on-three power play for over a minute, but could not get a shot on goal in the span. It wasn't until JoJo Bojanowski (Washington Township, Mich.) picked the upper right corner of the net from the high slot with 1:02 left in the game that the Bison converted with the man advantage. Eric Cremer (Chelsea, Mich.) slipped the puck to Bojanowski despite taking a hard hit to earn the assist.

Justin Marriott (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) made 33 saves in the win, while Rinn stopped 45 shots in his first full game of the season.  Nichols finished the night 1-for-11 on the power play, while Wentworth struck twice in eight chances.

Nichols next faces Curry on the road Saturday at 4:35 p.m. Wentworth hosts Suffolk Friday at 7:30 p.m.