MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College men's hockey team battled Johnson & Wales to a 3-3 overtime tie Saturday evening in Commonwealth Coast Conference action at the Max Ulin Rink. The tie moves the Colonels to 4-2-1 overall and 4-1-1 in the CCC. For the Wildcats the draw moves them to 2-4-1 on the season and 1-4-1 in the CCC.
Curry jumped on the board first 7:08 into the opening period off a goal from junior Adam Valadao (Ajax, Ontario). Valadao one-timed the puck into the back of the net, off a pass from classmate Jarret Kup (Rosseau, Ontario). Junior Ryan Fitzgerald (Cary, N.C) was also credited with the assist. The Colonels extended their lead to two with 2:14 left to play after senior Tyler Vankleef (Dundas, Ontario) stuck one past the glove of JWU's senior netminder Joey Ballmer (Kalamazoo, Mich.). Vankleef was assisted by senior Jake Heisinger (Winnipeg, Manitoba) and freshman Alex Mono (Las Vegas, Nev.). Curry's senior goaltender Brett Sinclair (St. Catherine's, Ont.), kept the Wildcats scoreless turning away all eight shots he faced. The Colonels headed into intermission with the 2-0 advantage outshooting JWU, 14-8.
The Wildcats cut the lead down to one just 2:55 into the second frame after senior Ben Brouillard (Somerset, Mass.) one-timed the puck past the glove of Sinclair. Brouillard was set up by classmates James Hyatt (Coral Springs, Fla.) and Connor Bates (Laconia, N.H.). The Wildcats sophomore Chad Guderian (Coppell, Texas) netted the game-tying score off a short-handed goal at 6:49. Freshman Andrew Cooley (Wasilla, AK) was called for a hold at 4:54. With just seconds remaining on the Colonels power-play, Cooley intercepted a Curry pass in their offensive zone. After skating with the puck through two defenders he took on Sinclair beating him with a top shelf shot. The game remained even at two apiece over the next ten minutes until junior Shane Tracy (Bow, N.H.) gave the Colonels back the lead. Sophomore Zachery White (Milford, Conn.) and freshman Alex Mono (Las Vegas, Nev.) earned the assists. Curry held a 19-10 advantage in shots.
JWU came out strong in the final frame and controlled most of the play. The Wildcats outshot the Colonels 18-6 while tallying the only goal. Both goaltenders played strong while Ballmer came up with some big stops to hold Curry scoreless and Sinclair stopped 17 shots, allowing just one JWU score. The Colonels defense was solid as they held off the Wildcats offense playing two men down to start the period and one man down for five minutes midway through. JWU's came up with the equalizer off a power-play at the 8:02 minute mark. Tracy was in the box for a hooking call at 6:15. With 13 seconds left on the PP the Wildcats capitalized when freshman Nicholas Gray (Stafford, Va.) netted his first of the game off an assist by Bates. Both teams battled over the final 10 minutes of regulation looking to score the game-winner but time expired forcing overtime.
The Colonels had a chance to win the game with 3:03 showing on the clock when they were awarded a penalty shot. While Vankleef was on a breakaway to net, a JWU player threw his stick costing his team the penalty shot. Vankleef was granted with the shot but Ballmer made a diving save denying him the goal and a Curry victory. The Wildcats got just two shots off over the five minutes while the Colonels had six however the score remained tied at 3-3.
Both netminders were impressive between the pipes with Sinclair making 35 saves and Ballmer stopping 42.
The Colonels outshot the Golden Bears 45-38. Curry was zero for six on the power-play while JWU was one for four.
Curry is back in action on Thursday, December 1 as they travel to CCC opponent Endicott College for a 7:00 p.m. start. Johnson & Wales is next in action on Tuesday, November 22 as they host non-conference opponent Assumption at 6:55 p.m.
