LOWELL, Mass. – The Nichols College men's ice hockey team jumped out to a 4-0 lead and held on to defeat Wentworth Institute of Technology, 5-3, in an ECAC Northeast contest played at Tsongas Arena.
With the win the Bison run their win streak to three, improving to 15-5-2 overall and 8-2-1 in league play. The Leopards see their five-game win streak and six-game unbeaten streak come to an end, falling to 9-11-2 (7-4-0).
Nichols wasted little time scoring as freshman Mike Weaver (Wakefield, Mass.) capitalized on a turnover and went in alone at the 2:54 mark. The Bison upped their lead to 2-0 at 6:36 when junior Kyle Shapiro (Ambler, Pa.) tipped a pass to freshman Sean Swansen (Salem, N.H.) who scored a shorthanded goal.
At the 16:44 mark, Nichols increased its lead to 3-0 with a power-play goal from sophomore Sean Fleming (Easthampton, N.J.), which was assisted by senior Greg Strootman (Aston, Pa.) and junior Chris Gularte (Salinas, Calif.).The power-play goal was the first allowed by the Leopards in their last 28 shorthanded situations. After one period the Bison outshot the Leopards by a 12-7 margin.
Just 2:04 into the second stanza the Bison would take a 4-0 lead when sophomore Steve Lecey (Cedarburg, Wisc.) fed junior Mike Schwartz (Long Beach, N.Y.). That goal chased Leopard starter Alex Peck (Kirkland, Que.) from the game in favor of sophomore Joel Miller (Calgary, Alta.)
The Leopards began their comeback attempt at 7:14 when junior Jordan Bourgoje (Spruce Grove, Alta.) scored from senior Andrew Yarber (Livonia, Mich.) and sophomore Jake Diamond (Lakewood, Colo.). Just 37 seconds later junior Kevin Crowe (Galloway, N.J.) scored from freshman Joe Mottiqua (Cecil, Pa.) and junior Mike Domsodi (Kirkland, Que.) to cut the lead in half. Wentworth had a 12-4 shot advantage in the second period.
With each team down a man on matching penalties, Nichols was called for a holding penalty. Just seven seconds into the 4-on-3 situation, Yarber scored off a feed from freshman Jake Flynn (Lino Lakes, Minn.).
Nichols had chances to increase their lead and Wentworth would have chances to tie the game. With 48 seconds left, Miller was pulled for an extra attacker, however the Bison iced the game with 10 second left on an empty-net tally from Strootman, which was assisted by senior Josh DeLoach (Clearwater, Fla.).
Sophomore Alex Larson (Madison, Ala.) made 28 saves to improve to 12-5-2 on the year. Peck made nine saves in 22:04 of work while Miller stopped all 11 shots he faced in 37:18.
Both teams are on the road Saturday as Nichols is at Salve Regina and Wentworth is at Becker.
