MILTON, Mass.- Curry College defeated Western New England College, 9-4 in men's ice hockey action on Thursday night in Milton, Mass. The Colonels improve to 10-7-3 overall and 6-1-2 in the ECAC Northeast, while the Golden Bears fall to 5-14-1 and 2-7-0 in the ECAC Northeast. In the last match up between the two teams, Western New England defeated Curry 5-6 in overtime.
Western New England was the first to get on the board just 1:54 into the first period. Curry was called for a penalty for too many men on the ice and the Golden Bears took advantage of the power play. Freshman Chris Connors (Albany, NY) received a pass from freshman Eric Gethers (Ashburn, VA) and one-timed the puck past Curry’s freshman goaltender David Aman (Souderton, PA). The Colonels answered back less than two minutes later when senior Ryan Warsofsky (Marshfield, MA) took a slap shot from the blue-line into the top right corner of the net. Senior Sean Mahoney (Canton, MA) and junior Michael Curran (Arlington, MA) were credited with the assists. Curry went on to score four more goals before the end of the period to take a demanding 5-1 lead. Freshman Joshua Pineiro (Burbank, CA) scored his first goal after missing the last few games due to an injury. Curran and Mahoney earned their second assist on Piniero’s goal. Junior Christopher Atkinson (Sparta, NJ) scored his first of the night from sophomore Ian DeLong (Lions, PA) and Warsofsky. Curry’s last two goals were on power plays. DeLong scored his second with Atkinson and junior Ryan Barlock (Niles, IL) on the assist. Junior Mike Kavanagh (Little, NY) finished off the first period scoring with Atkinson and sophomore George Isham(Lake Bluff, IL) assisting. Western New England changed goaltenders after the fourth Curry score. Freshman Eric Sorenson (Fairport, NY) came in to relieve Faste.
Curry would score just one goal in the second period. Senior Payden Benning (Estevan, SK) beat two Western New England defenders before placing the puck past Sorenson. Aman stopped all nine of the Golden Bears shots to keep them scoreless in the period.
Both teams would score three goals apiece in the final frame. Freshman Michael Lopez (Newton, MA) got the scoring started on Curry’s third power play goal of the game. Barlock and Mahoney each earned their third assist of the night on the goal. Lopez scored just under a minute later with junior Jonathan Miller (Freehold, NJ) on the assist. Western New England went on to score two of their own goals just a minute a part to cut the Colonels lead. Freshman John Kelly (Long Island, NY) took a slap shot that soared past Aman off a nice pass from Connors. Western New England’s third goal came from junior Mike Kaselouskas (East Longmeadow, MA) which was unassisted. Benning would finish off the scoring for the night with his second goal of the game. Kavanagh was credited with his second assist and sophomore Casey Brugman (Winthrop, MA) got his first. The Golden Bears scored their fourth and final goal on another Western New England power play when freshman Trent Krueger (White Bear Lake, MN) won the face-off and took a quick shot for the score.
Curry’s Warsofsky, Barlock, Mahoney and Atkinson each had three total points.
The Colonels finished with a total of 58 shots and the Golden Bears 23.
Western New England’s Fatse made 13 total saves in net and allowed four goals in 9:15 minutes. Sorenson made 36 saves in 49:45 minutes and allowed five goals in the loss. Curry’s goaltender Aman made 40 saves for his first win of the season.
Curry's next game is away at Suffolk University on Saturday, February 5 at 7:00 p.m. Western New England hosts Becker College on Saturday, February 5 for a 3:35 p.m. start.
