MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College men's ice hockey team cruised past the Wentworth Institute of Technology, 9-5, on Saturday evening at Max Ulin Rink on Senior Night. With the win, the Colonels improve to 13-6-3 overall and 8-4-2 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC). The setback moves the Leopards to 7-11-4 overall and 5-8-1 in league play. Prior to the game, the program honored its three seniors: Mack Heisinger (Winnipeg, Manitoba), Lionel Mauron (Lausanne, Switzerland), and Zach White (Milford, Conn.) in a special pregame ceremony.
Curry was first to get on the board in the first period, tallying three straight goals. Sophomore Tyler Lindstrom (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) tacked on the opening marker just 1:02 into the contest with the assists going junior Billy Vizzo (Shelton, Conn.) and sophomore Kasper Kjellkvist (Vaxjo, Sweden). White registered the first of his three goals on the night 5:11 into the period to give the Colonels the 2-0 lead. The helpers on the goal were awarded to sophomore Michael Snow (Medford, Mass.) and Mauron (Lausanne, Switzerland). White found himself back in the action just 17 seconds later, netting a power-play goal with the assists going to Kjellkvist and Snow. Wentworth had the answer with a power-play goal of its own following a marker from junior Georgy Gorodetksy (Yekaterinburg, Russia). The helpers on the goal went to freshman Jack McKenelley (Middleton, Mass.) and senior Ethan Weiss (Troy, Mich.). Curry found the net one more time before the end of the period, thanks to a goal from freshman Alex Ochterbeck (Dallas, Texas). Sophomore Viktor Jansson (Stockholm, Sweden) and freshman Mic Curran (Arlington, Mass.) picked up the helpers on the marker as the Colonels entered the first intermission with a 4-1 lead.
Wentworth got the first goal of the second period following a shot by McKenelley that found its way past Curry's junior goaltender Justin Ketola (Cloquet, Minn.) with 18:16 to go in the stanza. The assist were awarded to sophomore Jake Hallisey (Quincy, Mass.) to make the score 4-2. The visitors then pulled to within one on a marker from senior Tim Shea, Jr. (Ferrisburgh, Vt.). The tally was set up by seniors Adam Lane (Sarnia, Ontario) and Paul Filippone, III (Cranston, R.I.). The Colonels closed the middle period with three straight goals: one from Alexander Bouchard (Winnipeg, Manitoba), Curran, and Lindstrom. Curry entered the final period with a 7-3 lead.
The final period saw each team score twice. The Colonels netted a power play with 9:12 remaining in regulation as White capped off a hat trick. The marker was set up by Mauron and Kjellkvist. McKenelley and sophomore Brenden Lloyd (Merrick, N.Y.) for the Leopards to pull the visitors within three at 8-5. Curry added an insurance goal late as Vizzo scored off a pass from freshman Tarek Paranica (Grand Forks, N.D.).
The Colonels outshot the Leopards, 31-26 and were 3-for-5 on the PP while Wentworth was 1-for-3.
Ketola recorded 21 saves in net for the win. Freshman Ryan Bonnvie (Falmouth, Maine) made five stops for Wentworth before giving way to classmate Thomas Draper (Binghamton, N.Y.) who tallied 17 saves.
Curry opens its final home-and-home series of the regular season as they welcome in Western New England University on Friday, February 8 at Max Ulin Rink at 6:50 p.m. Wentworth returns home to host Endicott on Friday at 7:00 p.m.
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