LOWELL, Mass. – Five different players scored goals, including freshman Joe Mottiqua (Cecil, Pa.) and junior Jordan Bourgonje (Spruce Grove, Alta.) who each added an assist as the Wentworth Institute of Technology ice hockey team won its fifth straight game with a 5-1 win over Western New England in an ECAC Northeast Contest played at UMass Lowell's Tsongas Arena.
With the win the Leopards improve to 9-10-2 overall and ran their conference win streak to six to stand at 7-3. The Golden Bears dropped their sixth straight game to sit at 9-11-0 (3-6).
Mottiqua put the hosts on the board at the 5:32 mark of the opening frame when he put home a rebound of a sophomore Adam Frank (Clarkston, Mich.) shot. The game remained 1-0 until the 13:03 mark when junior Mike Domsodi (Kirkland, Que.) scored off passes from classmate Sean McLaughlin (North Billerica, Mass.) and Kevin Crowe (Galloway, N.J.).
Western New England closed the gap to 2-1 a little over two minutes later when senior Brian Prost (Parma, Ohio) put home a rebound of a junior Brandon Stroud (Clarksville, Ind.) shot.
The second period saw the Leopards increase their lead to 3-1 as Mottiqua set up freshman Connor Crowe (Galloway, N.J.) for his first collegiate marker.
In the third period, sophomore Jake Diamond (Lakewood, Colo.) made it a 4-1 game with a goal set up by Bourgonje at 6:59 before Bourgonje scored a power-play goal off a feed from senior Lawton McCracken (Colborne, Ont.) with 4:17 remaining.
Junior Alex Peck (Kirkland, Que.) made 23 saves for Wentworth, which held a 40-24 shot advantage. Senior Eric Sorenson (Fairpoint, N.Y.) made 35 stops for the Golden Bears. The Leopards killed off all four of their shorthanded situations – including a five-minute major – and are now 27 of their last 27 on the penalty kill.
Wentworth has its final regular-season home contest on Tuesday as the Leopards host Nichols at Tsongas Arena. The Black & Gold sit one point behind the league-leading Bison. Western New England hosts Suffolk on Thuursday.
