MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College men's hockey team tied Wentworth, 3-3, in overtime in Commonwealth Coast Conference action on Thursday night at the Max Ulin Rink in Milton, Mass. The tie moves the Colonels to 9-7-2 overall and 6-3-2 in the CCC while the Leopards are now 4-11-3 on the season and 2-7-2 in the CCC.
Both teams came out strong in the opening frame, netting all six of the goals scored on the night in first 20 minutes of play. Neither squad could capture the game-winner over the remaining 45 minutes, including five minutes of overtime, which concluded in a 3-3 draw.
Curry's senior Justin Nice (Aurora, Ontario) got the Colonels on the board early into the contest at the 2:56 minute mark. Nice, who was setup by freshman Anthony Trujillo (Toronto, Ontario) and senior Ellery O'Hara (Toronto, Ontario), took a slap shot that sailed just over the shoulder of Wentworth's freshman goaltender Kenny Graham (Milton, Mass.). Curry took a 2-0 lead just minutes later when senior Tyler Vankleef (Dundas, Ontario) found classmate Jake Heisinger (Winnipeg, Manitoba) open in front of the net who then one-timed it past the glove of Graham. Sophomore Lionel Mauron (Lausanne, Switzerland) sent Vankleef the pass off a face-off win to earn the second assist.
Wentworth answered back just 31 seconds later to cut the Colonel advantage down to one. The Leopards won the face-off at center ice and wasted no time to tally their first of the game. Sophomore Tim Shea (Ferrisburgh, Vt.) ripped a wrist shot past Curry's senior netminder Brett Sinclair (St. Catherines, Ontario) off assists from junior Chris Sattler (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and freshman Nate Chase (Plainfield, Ill.). The Colonels third goal came off the blade of junior Ryan Fitzgerald (Cary, N.C.) at 13:09. Freshman Alex Mono (Las Vegas, Nevada) was credited with the assist.
Once again Wentworth quickly responded with their second goal just a minute later. Senior Kyle LeBrun (Bridgewater, Mass.) fired the puck into the back of the net when he was setup by senior Jake Flynn (Lino Lakes, Minn.) and sophomore Paul Fillippone (Cranston, R.I.). With less than two minutes showing on the clock, the Leopards tallied the equalizer. Junior Jake McDonough (Marshfield, Mass.) produced the score off assists by sophomores Sean Brennan (Stony Point, N.Y.) and Angus Johnston (Calgary, Atla.).
Curry and Wentworth both went 0-2 on power plays. The Colonels had 33 shots while the Leopards had 21.
Sinclair made 18 saves in net for Curry in the tie. Graham made an impressive 30 stops in net for Wentworth.
The Colonels return to the ice on Saturday, January 28 in a 8:40 p.m. game away at Commonwealth Coast Conference opponent Becker College. Wentworth is back in action also on when they host CCC opponent Johnson & Wales for a 3:00 p.m. puck drop.
