BOSTON, Mass. – Freshman Paul Prescott's (Oakdale, Minn.) goal at 2:21 of overtime lifted the Nichols College men's hockey team to a 4-3 win over Wentworth Institute of Technology in ECAC Northeast play at Matthews Arena. The win by the Bison was the first in the last seven meetings between the two schools, with the previous win coming in a 4-3 triumph in the 2009 ECAC Northeast title game.
Wentworth got the only goal of the first period when sophomore Kevin Crowe (Galloway, N.J.) scored on the power play off a rebound of a senior Shaun Jameson (Long Beach, Calif.) blocked shot. Sophomore Mike Domsodi (Kirkland, Que.) also assisted on the tally.
The Bison erupted for three goals in a span of 2:18 in the second period as freshman Tyler Beasley (Indianapolis, Ind.) scored a power play goal at 10:53, assisted by sophomore Mike Schwartz (Long Beach, N.Y.) and junior Greg Strootman (Aston, Pa.). Nichols took a 2-1 lead on an unassisted marker from sophomore Chris Gularte (Salinas, Calif.) just 55 seconds later and increased its lead to 3-1 when senior Zach Kohn (Delafield, Wis.) scored from freshman Daniel Buffs (Linden, N.J.) and senior Danny Grenier (Columbus, Ohio) at 13:11.
Crowe netted his second goal of the contest, again on the power play, as he was set up by Jameson and senior Reed Rushing (Seattle, Wash.) at 8:25 of the third period before freshman Adam Frank (Clarkston, Mich.) scored his first collegiate goal when he tipped in a junior Lawton McCracken (Colborne, Ont.) shot attempt at 10:01. Sophomore Curtis Heinz (Grand Rapids, Mich.) would also have a helper on the game-tying goal.
Both teams had chances to put this away in the waning moments of regulation, however Wentworth freshman Joel Miller (Calgary, Alta.) and Nichols freshman Alex Larson (Madison, Ala.) each made key stops to send the game into an extra frame.
Each team would have one shot on goal in the overtime before Prescott found an open lane and buried the game winner with 2:39 to play.
Larson made 33 stops for the Bison while Miller turned aside 21 shots for the Leopards. Wentworth held a 36-25 shot advantage on the night and was 2-for-2 on power play opportunities.
Winners of two in a row, Nichols improves to 6-2-0 overall and 3-1 in league play. The Leopards dropped their second straight to fall to 4-3-1 overall and 2-2 in league play. Both teams are in action on Saturday with Nichols traveling to Suffolk and Wentworth traveling to Becker.
