MILTON, Mass. --- The Curry College men's ice hockey team defeated visiting Becker College, 6-2, on Saturday evening at the Max Ulin Rink in Milton. With the win the Colonels improve to 2-1-0 and 1-1 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference while the loss drops the Hawks to 2-1-1 and 1-1 against conference opponents.
Becker was first to get on the board in the first period after Curry was called for interference. The Hawks took advantage of the power play and netted their goal at 9:36. Freshman Charles Costello (Philadelphia, Pa.) found the back of the net off assists from junior Brandon Morgan (Rochester, N.Y) and freshman John Tomkowiak (Lindenhurst, Ill.). Curry answered back just over two minutes later when senior Jarret Kup (Rosseau, Ontario) one-timed the puck past the glove of sophomore Grant Martens (Bloomington, Minn.). Kiss got help from freshmen Kasper Kjellkvist (Vaxjo, Sweden) and Michael Snow (Medford, Mass.). The Colonels took the lead before intermission off a tally by senior Shane Tracy (Bow, N.H.). Senior Adam Valadao (Ajax, Ontario) won the face-off in Curry's offensive end and sent the puck to junior Mack Heisinger (Winnipeg, Manitoba). Heisinger found an open Valadao for the score. The Colonels held a slight advantage in shots at 13-11.
The teams exchanged goals in the second period with Curry striking first. The Colonels went up 3-1 at the 11:04 minute mark. Senior Phil Kiss (Burlington, Ontario) took a slap shot that sailed over the shoulder of Martens. Heisinger earned his second assist of the game with freshman Viktor Jansson (Stockholm, Sweden) earning his first. With only 11 seconds remaining on the clock the Hawks cut the lead back to one. Junior Corey Schafer (Johnstown, Pa.) scored on an even-strength goal assisted by senior John Dutney (Hudson, Mass.) and Shawn Peckham (). Curry held a demanding 17-4 advantage through 20 minutes of play.
The final period saw the Colonels tally three unanswered scores. Curry netted a power-play, a short-handed and an even-strength goal. The Colonels fourth goal of the night came after the Hawks failed to capitalize on a 5-on-4 situation. Just under a minute into Becker's power-play, sophomore Joseph DiBenedetto (Anchorage, AK) intercepted the puck in his teams' defensive zone and sent it down the ice to the stick of sophomore Jordan Williamson (Okotoks, AB). Williamson collected the pass and maneuvered the puck into the back of the net for the short-hander. Heisinger was next to score with helpers from Tracy and junior Lionel Mauron (Lausanne, Switzerland). Curry put the game out of reach with their sixth goal with 8:21 left to play. Valadao was credited with the power-play score when he finished off assists by freshman Brandon Zajicek (Albertville, Minn.) and Tracy.
The Colonels outshot the Hawks, 44-19 and were 1-6 on the PP while Becker was 1-10.
Curry's senior goalie Chris James (Carefree, Ariz.) recorded 17 saves in net for the win. Becker's Martens made an impressive 35 stops before giving way to freshman Richard D'Ortenzio (Holliston, Mass.) who tallied three saves.
The Colonels are next in action when they host CCC opponent Western New England on Friday, November 10 at 6:50 p.m. The Hawks also play on Friday when they travel to CCC opponent Endicott for a 7:00 p.m. start.
