HARRISVILLE, R.I. – Freshman Jeffrey Baker (Columbia, Md.) recorded a goal and a pair of assists and junior Colin Brennan (Chester, N.J.) stopped all 35 shots he faced to pick up the shutout as the Nichols College hockey team used a four-goal third period to defeat Wentworth Institute of Technology on Thursday night. The game was the first-ever Commonwealth Coast Conference game for both teams.
With the win the Bison improve to 2-0 (1-0) while the Leopards fall to 0-3 (0-1).
Wentworth held a 16-7 shot advantage after the first period and outshot Nichols 26-19 through 40 minutes of action. During the first 40 minutes the Leopards had a pair of breakaways which Brenan stopped.
Just over five minutes into the third period, sophomore Matthew Kennedy (Mount Pearl, N.L.) was awarded a penalty shot and nearly put the visitors up 1-0. However, his attempt hit the post keeping it a scoreless game.
At 11:48 of the period, freshman Nicholas Mangone (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) broke a scoreless tie as he took a pass from sophomore Blake Kelley (Woodbury, Minn.) and put home a shot into the top of the net.
Less than four minutes later, the Bison struck for two goals in 42 seconds to extend their lead to 3-0. Sophomore Matthew Menta (Lime, Pa.) was awarded a penalty shot and beat junior goalie Ryan Hubbard (West Bridgewater, Mass.) with a backhand shot at 15:16. When play resumed, freshman Hogan Davidson (Duluth, Minn.) scored his first collegiate goal with the assist going to Baker at 15:48. Baker added an empty-net goal with 1:49 to go with the assist going to Brennan.
Hubbard finished the game with 29 saves. Wentworth had a 35-33 shot advantage for the game. Both teams were 0-for-4 on the power play.
Wentworth hosts Curry on Saturday while Nichols hosts Endicott.
