BOSTON, Mass. – Junior Nicholas McKee (Bakersfield, Calif.) scored 2:36 into the third period to snap a 2-all tie as the Becker College ice hockey team held on for a 3-2 win over Wentworth Institute of Technology in ECAC Northeast action at Walter Brown Arena. The win for the Hawks snapped a nine-game losing streak and 10-game winless streak against the Leopards as Becker notched its first series win since February 12, 2010.
With the win the Hawks snap a three-game losing streak and improve to 6-10-0 overall and 2-5-0 in ECAC Northeast play while the Leopards fall to 3-11-1 (2-4-1).
The opening frame yielded chances for both teams with Wentworth holding an 11-7 shot advantage. Six of the Leopards' 11 shots on goal came on three power plays.
Sophomore Jake McDonough (Marshfield, Mass.) gave the hosts a 1-0 lead at the 6:56 mark of the second period as he notched his fifth of the season from classmate Chris Sattler (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and freshman Ethan Weiss (Troy, Mich.).
With 1:10 left Becker evened the score when senior David Kahn (Lafayette, Calif.) sent a pass into the zone where senior Tyler Auricchio (Henderson, Nev.) received it and slipped a pass to junior Connor Allison (Hillsboro, Ore.), who found the back of the net. The Hawks took a 2-1 lead when sophomore James Wallace, who was set up by junior Chris Pantaleo (Staten Island, N.Y.), fired a shot from inside the right circle with just 2.2 seconds left in the stanza. Wentworth had a 12-7 shot advantage in the second period.
Junior Kyle Lebrun (Bridgewater, Mass.) evened the score at 2-all just 2:03 into the third period as sophomore Ryan Sullivan (Whately, Mass.) and senior Joel Miller (Calgary, Alta.) set him up for his fourth marker of the season. However, Auricchio and Allison would set up McKee just 33 seconds for what would be the game winner.
Wentworth had numerous chances to tie the game but would be denied by Becker junior Tyler Stepke (Mars, Pa.), who had 16 saves in the third period. With 1:06 left the Leopards pulled Miller for an extra attacker but were unable to get a shot on net.
Stepke made 37 saves for the Hawks while Miller turned aside 18 for the Leopards.
Wentworth is at Assumption on Sunday. Becker hosts Western new England Monday afternoon.
