DeLong Nets all Three Goals as Hockey Falls to Western New England, 6-3

DeLong Nets all Three Goals as Hockey Falls to Western New England, 6-3

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--Sophomore Brandon Stroud led all scorers with four points, junior co-captain Brian Prost had a goal and two assists, and freshman Chris Lembo added three assists, as Western New England University skated to a 6-3 victory Thursday over Curry in Eastern College Athletic Conference Northeast men's hockey action at Smead Rink. The host Golden Bears improve to 3-1 (2-0 ECAC-NE) on the season after recording a season high in goals to help them to their third-straight win, while the Colonels even their overall and conference record to 1-1.

Senior Ian DeLong scored a hat-trick for Curry, which outshot Western New England 31 to 25 for the contest. His first goal came on the power play just 27 seconds into the second period, cutting the deficit to 2-1. After Stroud notched a power-play tally of his own at the 1:07 mark, DeLong struck again 1:38 later with WNE maintaining a one-goal advantage at 3-2. DeLong added a short-handed marker, unassisted, in the third period to bring Curry within 5-3.

But junior Alan Martin added an insurance goal midway through the stanza to account for the final three-goal margin. Juniors Chris Connors and Dan Monahan were credited with assists on the play.

Senior Connor Hendry chipped in two assists for the Colonels.

The WNE No. 1 line of Stroud/junior co-captain John Kelly/Prost was explosive, accounting for three goals and four assists.

Western New England went 3-for-9 on the power-play tonight and increased its No. 1 ECAC-NE ranking with the man-advantage at a .320 percentage. Curry was 1-for-7.

Reigning ECAC Northeast Goalie of the Week Eric Sorenson made 28 saves for the Golden Bears.  Senior Joe Dawson made 10 stops in net for the Colonels while sophomore Derek Mohney made nine.

Curry returns to action on Saturday, March 17 when they travel to ECAC Northeast opponent Nichols College for a 7:40 p.m. game start.  (Game Recap Courtesy of Western New England Sports Information)