HARRISVILLE, R.I. – Junior Alex Larson (Madison, Ala.) turned aside 35 shots to backstop the Nichols College men's ice hockey team to a 3-2 win over Curry College in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Northeast Semifinal action Wednesday night at Levy Rink.
With the win, the top-seeded Bison advance to the conference championship contest for the second-consecutive season and will host No. 2 seed Salve Regina Saturday afternoon at 4:40 p.m. at Levy Rink. The Seahawks defeated No. 3 Johnson & Wales (RI) 9-3 in the other semifinal contest earlier this evening.
Senior Brett Jackson (Larchmont, N.Y.) and juniors Paul Prescott (Oakdale, Minn.) and Steve Lecey (Cedarburg, Wis.) scored for the Bison, who improved to 20-3-3 with the win. Nichols has reached the 20-win plateau only two other times in program history (2007-08; 2008-09).
The Bison scored the only goal of the opening period at 4:56 when Jackson popped his fourth of the season. Freshman Scott Cuthrell (Waterford, Mich.) slid the puck to senior Sean Fleming (Easthampton, N.J.) behind the net. Fleming fed Jackson in front for a quick one-timer that snuck through the legs of senior netminder Derek Mohney (Amherst, N.Y.).
Curry went on the power play early in the second and nearly tied the game when senior Chris Mason (Monrovia, Calif.) rang one off the left post. Eight minutes later, Cuthrell hit Fleming up the middle with a breakaway pass, but his shot was turned aside by Mohney with the left pas.
Nichols doubled its lead late in the second when Lecey's wrister from the left point went through a screen and past Mohney for his third of the season. Junior Frank Butler (East Haven, Conn.) picked up the lone assist as he fed Lecey from behind the goal line.
The Bison appeared to seal the win when Prescott scored into the empty net at 17:55 of the third. The Colonels answered right back with Mohney on the bench as sophomore Tyler Vankleef (Dundas, Ontario) beat Larson high to the blocker side right off an offensive zone face-off win to make it 3-1 at 18:54. Twenty-eight seconds later, senior Chris Mason (Monrovia, Calif.) jumped in from the point and chipped the puck out from between a maze of student-athletes and into the net at 19:22.
Curry outshot the Bison 37-27 but failed to score on four chances with the extra man. Nichols went 0-for-3 on the PP.
Mohney finished with 24 saves and finishes his season 9-7-1. Curry finishes the season 15-10-2. (Game Recap Courtesy of Nichols Sports Information)
