MARLBOROUGH, Mass. – Four different players scored goals and junior Erik Andersson (Madison, N.J.) had a pair of assists as the Wentworth Institute of Technology ice hockey team fended off a furious rally by Becker in a 4-2 victory Thursday night at the New England Sports Center.
The Leopards won for the first time in their last eight contests, snapping both a four-game losing streak and a seven-game winless streak (0-5-2), and improve to 5-15-3 overall and 3-11-2 in Commonwealth Coast Conference play. The Hawks see their record fall to 6-16-1 (5-10-1).
After a scoreless first period which saw Becker hold a 16-7 shot advantage, Wentworth got on the board first when sophomore Ethan Weiss (Troy, Mich.) netted a power-play goal when he fired a shot from the point which found the upper left corner at the 6:00 mark. Andersson and sophomore Matthew Kennedy (Mount Pearl, N.L.) picked up assists on Weiss' fourth marker of the season. The Leopards doubled their lead at 14:25 when junior Jake McDonough (Marshfield, mass.) won a faceoff to sophomore Byron Carlisle (Orleans, Mass.) who put a shot over senior netminder Tyler Stepke (Mars, Pa.) for his first of the season.
Wentworth went ahead 3-0 at the 6:16 mark of the third period when Andersson fed McDonough. McDonough's initial shot was saved by Stepke, however he possessed his own rebound and put it home.
Becker began a comeback with a pair of goals in a span of just 81 seconds. At 12:13, sophomore Brandon Morgan (Rochester, N.Y.) went in on a breakaway after a pass from freshman Damon Hanson (Renton, Wash.) and beat junior Ryan Hubbard (West Roxbury, Mass.) with a backhand. At 13:34, senior Connor Merrick (Manchester, N.H.) fed classmate Nick McKee (Bakersfield, Calif.) on a two-on-one who beat Hubbard to the glove side.
Becker pulled Stepke for an extra attacker with 1:21 remaining and the Hawks nearly tied the game. With 27 seconds left, sophomores Adam Lane (Sarnia, Ont.) and Angus Johnston (Calgary, Alta.) cleared the puck out to classmate Paul Filippone (Cranston, R.I.) who sealed the win with an empty-net goal.
Hubbard made 34 saves in the win while Stepke stopped 29 shots in the loss. Becker had a 36-33 shot advantage.
Wentworth is at the University of New England on Saturday night while on Saturday afternoon Becker is at Endicott.
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