Curran Nets Four Goals, Set School Single Season Record With 29th Marker As Ice Hockey Advances To First-Ever Trip To Northeast-10 Championship Series With 6-2 League Semi-Final Victory Over Assumption, Skyhawks Square Off With Saint Anselm For 2007 Conference Tournament Crown This Weekend
February 28, 2007
STONEHILL ICE HOCKEY
2007 Northeast-10 Conference Semi-Finals
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Bridgewater Ice Arena, Bridgewater, Mass.
FINAL: STONEHILL 6, ASSUMPTION 2
1 2 3 Total
Assumption (7-18-2) 1 0 1 - 2
Stonehill (13-11-1) 0 3 3 - 6
SCORING SUMMARY
ASM: Chris Genovese (Jim Trahon, Mike Rust) PPG 8:19 1st
STO: Brendan O'Brien (Pete Roundy, Matt Curran) 1:24 2nd
STO: Curran (James Florentino) SHG 11:42 2nd
STO: Curran (Roundy, Florentino) PPG 19:10 2nd
ASM: Patrick Ciummo (Genovese, Dan Surette) 5:09 3rd
STO: Brian Davis (Evan Spencer) 10:25 3rd
STO: Curran (Billy Ninteau, O'Brien) PPG 13:42 3rd
STO: Curran (Davis, O'Brien) PPG 17:02 3rd
GOALIE SAVES
ASM: Jamie DiGiulio-28
STO: Josh Green-25, Bobby Conceison-1
BRIDGEWATER, Mass.-- Junior Matt Curran (Scarborough, Maine) scored a career-high four goals and in the process established a new single-season school record with his 29th marker of the year as second-seeded Stonehill earned its first-ever berth in the Northeast-10 Ice Hockey Championship series with a 6-2 victory over sixth-seeded Assumption in conference semi-final round play Wednesday evening at the Bridgewater Ice Arena.
The host Skyhawks, now 13-11-1 on the season, will take on top-seeded Saint Anselm (12-11-3) in the two-game Northeast-10 championship set at Sullivan Arena in Manchester, N.H. beginning on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. with the first contest. The second game of the championship series will take place on Sunday afternoon in Manchester beginning at 5:00 p.m., and if the two teams split the two outings, a 20-minute mini-game will decide the league tournament crown immediately following the conclusion of the second game.
Special teams carried Stonehill into the championship series, as after the visiting Ice Dogs, who end their season at 7-18-2, grabbed a 1-0 lead after one period of play on sophomore Chris Genovese's (Woburn, Mass.) power play goal, the Skyhawks evened matters on sophomore Brendan O'Brien's (Braintree, Mass.) marker 1:24 into the middle stanza. Curran gave the hosts the lead for good with a shorthanded tally that came at the 11:42 mark, and his second goal of the evening with 50 seconds remaining in the period on the power play staked Stonehill to a 3-1 cushion after 40 minutes of action.
Assumption closed back to within a goal at 3-2 5:09 into the final period on junior Patrick Ciummo's (Harrisville, R.I.) marker, but the Skyhawks took a 4-2 edge midway through the third stanza on junior Brian Davis's (Foxboro, Mass.) tally with 9:35 remaining. Curran completed his hat trick and set the school single-season mark in the process with 7:18 remaining on a power play to break former Northeast-10 Player of the Year Rob Pascale's previous single-season high of 27 goals set in 2002-2003, and his fourth special teams goal of the night (and third power play marker) with 2:58 remaining iced matters for the hosts.
Curran added an assist to finish with five points in the win for Stonehill, which also received a pair of assists from O'Brien as part of a three-point night. Sophomore James Florentino (West Roxbury, Mass.) and freshman Pete Roundy (Simsbury, Conn.) chipped in with a pair of assists as well for the winners, who also received single helpers off the sticks of senior Evan Spencer (Billerica, Mass.) and sophomore Billy Ninteau (Litchfield, N.H.). Genovese finished with a goal and an assist in the setback for Assumption, which also received assists off the sticks of senior Dan Surette (Woburn, Mass.) and juniors Jim Trahon (Needham, Mass.) and Mike Rust (Laguna Niguel, Calif.).
Senior Josh Green (Mendon, Mass.) picked up the win in goal for Stonehill with a 25-save effort in 57-plus minutes of action, while fellow senior Bobby Conceison (Burlington, Mass.) made one stop in the final 2:58 of play in his first collegiate appearance between the pipes. Freshman Jamie DiGiulio (Peabody, Mass.) made 28 stops in net for Assumption as the Skyhawks outshot the Ice Dogs by a 34-28 margin for the contest.
Stonehill and defending conference tournament champion Saint Anselm will meet for the second time in nine days in Saturday's first game of the Northeast-10 Championship series, as the Hawks posted a 5-2 victory over the Skyhawks in their regular season match-up last Thursday evening at Sullivan Arena.