EVERETT, Mass. – Senior Connor Merrick (Manchester, N.H.) snapped a 1-all tie with his goal at 5:42 of the third period and senior Tyler Stepke (Mars, Pa.) made 41 saves – including three in the final 1:15 of the contest – as the Becker College hockey team held on to defeat Wentworth Institute of Technology, 2-1, in a Commonwealth Coast Conference contest played at the Allied Veterans Rink.
Winner of two straight contests, the Hawks improve to 4-8 overall and even their CCC record at 4-4. The Leopards drop to 2-9 (2-6) after suffering their fourth one loss setback of the season.
Wentworth had a 15-9 shot advantage in the first period with five of those shots coming on the power play. At the 9:57 mark, sophomore Ethan Weiss (Troy, Mich.) sent a pass to classmate Angus Johnston (Calgary, Alta.). Johnston found sophomore Matthew Kennedy (Mount Pearl, N.L.), who beat Stepke to the right side.
Becker got the equalizer with 2:26 remaining in the period as junior James Wallace (Levittown, Pa.) scored off a feed from junior Corey Sherman (Hilton, N.Y.).
The second period featured no scoring, however Wentworth had a 12-6 shot advantage. The Hawks appeared to have taken a 2-1 lead nearly at the midway point of the period, however sophomore Brandon Morgan's (Rochester, N.Y.) shot hit the inside of the post. Becker would hit another post shortly thereafter.
Merrick's game-winning goal came on the power play when he tipped home a shot attempt from freshman Trey McMillen (Grapevine, Texas).
The Leopards continued to mount pressure on Becker's defense and pulled freshman Kenny Graham (Milton, Mass.) for an extra attacker while on the power play with 1:21 remaining. However, Stepke made three saves to keep the hosts from tying the game.
Stepke made 15 of his 41 saves in the third period while Graham finished the game with 20 saves. Wentworth had a 42-22 shot advantage. Fourteen of the Leopards' 42 shots came during 14 power-play attempts.
Wentworth hosts nationally ranked UMass Boston on Friday at 6:00 p.m. Becker is idle until playing Buffalo State at the Boston Landing Invitational on January 6.
