MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College men's hockey team defeated Becker College, 11-3, on Thursday night in Commonwealth Coast Conference action at the Max Ulin Rink. With the win the Colonels even their record to 2-2 overall and improve to 2-1 in the CCC. The loss drops the Hawks to 2-2 on the season and 2-1 in the CCC.
Curry's line-up all put in a great effort as the team had 14 players with at least one point. The Colonels had eight different goal scorers and got four-point efforts from four different players. Freshman Tomas Brejcha (Prague, Czech Republic) netted his first-collegiate goal and added one more along with two assists, senior Jake Heisinger (Winnipeg, Manitoba) scored once and had three helpers, senior James Murphy (Malden, Mass.) earned four assists and sophomore Lionel Mauron (Lausanne, Switzerland) tallied two scores and had two helpers.
Curry's senior Sean Nelson (Brighton, Mich.) netted a goal while assisting on two for three points on the night. Seniors Tyler Vankleef (Dundas, Ontario) and Dan McGinnis (Hanover, Mass.) each tallied one and helped on one for two points and junior Adam Valadao (Ajax, Ontario) finished with two points on a pair of goals.
Other Colonel point-scorers were: juniors Shane Tracy (Bow, N.H.) and Jarret Kup (Rosseau, Ont.) who both had an assist and three freshmen each earning their first-collegiate point. Freshman Jordan Williamson (Okotoks, AB) netted his first goal in a Curry uniform and freshmen Alec Mono (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Joseph DiBenedetto (Anchorage, AK.) earned their point of assists.
Becker jumped on the board first at 4:14 on a power-play goal from senior Bryan Parsons (Shrewsbury, Mass.), which was set up by seniors Nicholas McKee (Bakersfield, Calif.) and Connor Merrick (Manchester, N.H.). However, Curry would reel off the next seven goals to take a demanding 7-1 lead after one period of play. Brejcha tallied both his goals while Nelson, McGinnis, Mauron, Valladao and Heisinger each chipped in one. The Colonels outshot the Hawks, 15-5.
The second stanza saw another four goals scored, three from Curry and one from Becker. The Colonels Valadao earned his second of the game at the 7:12 minute mark. Valadao was followed by Vankleef who took advantage of a man-up opportunity. Just 13 seconds later, Williamson answered on Curry's fourth extra-man situation. The Hawks were able to get their second with less than three minutes showing on the clock. They too benefited from a 6-on-5 chance after a Colonel penalty. Junior Nikolas' Nasby (Newberg, Ore.) fired one in from help by Merrick and junior Corey Sherman (Hilton, N.Y.). Becker held a slight lead in shots at 12-10.
A defensively-played third period yielded few opportunities for both teams, however they each managed to put up one more score. Becker struck first in the frame on their third power-play of the game. Junior James Wallace (Levittown, Pa.) netted the marker, which was assisted by Sherman and sophomore Trevor Salmon (Marshfield, Mass.). With 4:43 left to play Mauron took advantage of another Colonel power-play opportunity and capitalized with help from Nelson and Brejcha.
Curry's senior goaltender Brett Sinclair (St. Catherine's, Ont.) made 15 saves, allowing two goals in 40 minutes to record the win. Sophomore Spencer Cookson (Sheffield, Mass.) played in the final period for the Colonels making four stops while allowing just one goal.
Becker's senior goaltender Tyler Stepke (Mars, Pa.) started the game and made six saves, allowing five goals in 13:48 minutes before giving way to freshman Grant Martens (Bloomington, Minn.) who made two stops and allowed two scores in 26:12 minutes. In net for the final period was freshman Jared Levine (Binghamton, N.Y.) who made seven saves and allowed just one goal.
Curry led in shots, 33-22. The Colonels were 5-for-11 on the power-play while the Hawks were 3-for-9.
Both teams are back in action on Saturday as they both play host to Commonwealth Coast Conference teams. Curry takes on Western New England at 4:45 p.m. and Becker plays Nichols at 8:10 p.m.
