Stonehill's Comeback Falls Short
Pomfret, Conn. - Despite falling to 0-3-1, the Skyhawks proved they are a force to be reckoned with. The reigning Northeast-10 Champions fell short to the Nichols College Bison (4-0-1), losing a 7-5 shoot out Saturday night. The Stonehill squad showed tremendous signs of improvement, battling back from an early 3-1 Nichols advantage. A five goal effort would not be enough, however, as the Skyhawks drop their second straight.
Junior Ryan Gervais notched a hat trick and an assist to lead
Nichols to the non-conference victory. Gervais got Nichols on
the board first with his fifth goal of the year, 12:49 into the
first period. Sophomore Eric Cremer netted a power play score
under four minutes later to give the Bison a 2-0 lead headed into
the first intermission.
Stonehill's Bill Ninteau (Litchfield,
N.H.) cut the lead in half with his first goal of the
season on a power play 8:32 into the second. Nichols sophomore Zeke
Costello was quick to respond just three minutes later with his
first of the season.
Juniors Brendan O'Brien
(Braintree,
Mass.) and Ryan
MacInnis (Simsbury, Conn.) scored
back-to-back goals for Stonehill in a :21 second span to tie the
game at 3-3 at the 14:30 mark of the second. Goaltender Donny Wynia
relieved junior Keith Fink following the Skyhawks second goal. Fink
exited with 15 saves in 34:30 minutes of action. The goal
change came in a period that the Skyhawks out shot the Bison,
17-9.
The Bison went on to post three straight goals, two in the second
and one midway through the third, to take a 6-3 lead. Freshman John
Haley struck first. The goal was followed by rookie Jean-Marc
Biron's first collegiate goal. Gervais scored again to spot
the home team a three goal advantage.
Senior Matt Curran
(Scarborough,
Maine) put Stonehill within reach
when he netted his third goal of the year with 8:15 left. Classmate
Brian Davis (Foxboro, Mass.) then
made it a one goal game when he registered the Skyhawks' third
power play goal at the 15:16 mark.
Stonehill pulled goaltender Pete Lucchesi
(Syracuse,
N.Y.) from net with 1:33 in hopes
of scoring the game-tying goal. Gervais was able to get
past the defense and seal the victory with the empty netter
with :25 seconds on the clock.
Nichols goaltender Donny Wynia improved to 3-0 with the win. He
made 10 saves in 25:30 minutes. Freshman Pete Lucceshi recorded 30
saves for Stonehill in his first collegiate start. Lucceshi
is the third freshman goaltender the Skyhawks have used in their
first four games.
For Nichols, Junior Glenn Cacaro tallied three assists on the night
while junior Anthony Monte had two. Senior Anthony
Zanetti
(Ludlow,
Mass.) and sophomore Pete
Roundy
(Simsbury,
Conn.) each had two assists for
Stonehill.
The Skyhawks will return home Tuesday to host Fitchburg State. The puck drops at 7:30 PM at the Bridgewater Ice Arena.