EVERETT, Mass. – Sophomore Scott Cuthrell (Waterford, Mich.) junior Rob Belger (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) each scored a goal and assisted on another to help paces the 13th-ranked Nichols College ice hockey team to a 5-1 win over Wentworth Institute of Technology in an ECAC Northeast contest played at the Allied Veterans Memorial Rink.
Winners of nine straight the Bison improve to 9-1-0 overall and 6-0-0 in ECAC Northeast play while the Leopards fall to 3-8-1 (2-3-1).
Nichols scored twice in the first period, with the first coming just 1:04 into the contest as senior Frank Butler (East Haven, Conn.) scored from junior Michael Parnell (Roseville, Minn.) and senior Tyler Beasley (Indianapolis, Ind.). The Bison doubled their lead at the 10:25 mark of the period when Belger scored an unassisted marker.
Wentworth cut the deficit in half at 8:10 of the second period when freshman Byron Carlisle (Orleans, Mass.) scored from classmates Jonny Spada (Glen Rock, N.J.) and Paul Filippone (Cranston, R.I.). With 17 ticks left in the period the Bison made it a two-goal game when Cuthrell scored from freshman Matthew Menta (Lima, Pa.) and Belger.
Cuthrell and sophomore Chris Deming (Madison, Ala.) set up freshman Ben Campbell (Duluth, Minn.) at the 4:50 mark of the third period to make it a 4-1 game before senior Paul Prescott (Oakdale, Minn.) scored on an empty net while Nichols was on the power play with 1:14 remaining.
Senior Alex Larson (Madison, Ala.) made 35 saves in the win while freshman Matt Jenkins (Mount Pearl, N.L.) turned aside 26 shots in a losing effort. Wentworth held a 36-31 shot advantage.
Wentworth faces its second straight nationally ranked foe when the Leopards travel to UMass Boston on Friday afternoon. Nichols hosts Southern New Hampshire on Tuesday night.
