EVERETT, Mass. – Sophomore Brian Hurley (Baldwin, N.Y.) scored a pair of goals and junior Matt Smethurst (Rexford, N.Y.) had three assists as the Western New England University ice hockey team defeated Wentworth Institute of Technology, 7-2, in a Commonwealth Coast Conference contest played at Allied Veterans Rink.
With the win the Golden Bears improve to 8-15-2 overall and finish in a three-way tie for eighth place in CCC play with a 5-12-1 record. Western New England garners the final playoff berth in the inaugural CCC Tournament by virtue of a tiebreaker. The Leopards see their season come to a close with a 5-17-3 (3-13-2) record.
Hurley scored the lone goal of the first period, which came at 15:49. Smethurst won a faceoff back to sophomore Steve Beck (Milton, N.Y.) who gave it back to Smethurst who found Hurley along the left side.
Wentworth evened the score at 1-all at the 6:23 mark of the middle period. Freshman Garrett Geane (Fullerton, Calif.) played the puck to classmate Drew DiGeronimo (Fitchburg, Mass.), who had his shot blocked. Senior Kyle LeBrun (West Bridgewater, Mass.) possessed the rebound and fired the puck home.
The Golden Bears took the lead for good with three goals in a span of 1:39, late in the period. Hurley scored from Smethurst and junior Matt Audet (Campbell, Calif.) at 18:03 and just 51 seconds later, junior David Dischiavi (Etoblcoke, Ont.) scored from sophomore Stefan Koproske (Simsbury, Conn.) and sophomore Tyler Hines (North Haven, Conn.). With 18 seconds left, sophomore David Kleyman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored from senior Josh Twietmeyer (Weston, Fla.).
Sophomore Matt O'Dea (Orland Park, Ill.) put home rebounds of shots from Smethurst and sophomore Steve Beck (Milton, N.Y.) at 4:16 of the third period to make it a 5-1 contest. The Leopards closed the gap to 5-2 at the 8:22 mark when sophomores Paul Filippone (Cranston, R.I.) and Matthew Kennedy (Mount Pearl, N.L.) assisted on sophomore Angus Johnston's (Calgary, Alta.) goal.
With junior Ryan Hubbard (West Roxbury, Mass.) pulled for an extra attacker, Twietmeyer scored from Kleyman at 18:10. Thirty-three seconds later sophomore Connor Eckenrod (Ebensburg, Pa.) completed the scoring.
Sophomore Kevin Gollmer (Flourtown, Pa.) made 43 saves in the win. Hubbard made 11 stops in the third period after coming on for sophomore Griffin Cady (Yarmouth, Maine), who made 19 saves in the first two periods. Wentworth had a 45-37 shot advantage.
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