Skyhawks see a four-goal lead disappear late in the game but hold Penmen to a draw

Patrick Greene notched three points for the Skyhawks in their return to NE-10 competition.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (December 7, 2010) – Stonehill College jumped out to an early lead but had to settle for a 5-5 tie in overtime against Southern New Hampshire University in a Northeast-10 Conference men’s ice hockey matchup at home on Tuesday night.

Sophomore Sean McNeil (Canton, Mass./Canton), senior Angelo Todesca (Westwood, Mass./Catholic Memorial), and junior Mario Ranalli (Lakeville, Mass./Coyle Cassidy) all scored in an early three-goal flurry for the Skyhawks, and junior Patrick Greene (Weymouth, Mass./Catholic Memorial) and sophomore Tyler Gordon (Franklin, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) followed with a pair, but the Skyhawks still came up one goal short of a victory as the Penmen rallied in the third period. Senior goaltender Derek Chapdelaine (Granby, Mass./Springfield Cathedral) stopped 20 shots in the Stonehill net.

After pressuring the Southern New Hampshire zone throughout the first period with no success against sophomore goaltender John Carbonneau (Medford, Mass.), the Skyhawks broke the game open with three goals in a 45-second span at the end of the period. McNeil netted his first of the year at 19:02, launching a shot from the right faceoff circle with assists from freshman Chris Davies (Edgartown, Mass./Martha’s Vineyard Regional), making his first appearance for the Skyhawks, and junior Jordan Fine (Walpole, Mass./Saint Sebastian’s). Todesca followed just ten seconds later with his conference-leading ninth goal of the year from Greene, and Ranalli finished the period with a close-range shot from the right side to send Stonehill into the first intermission leading 3-0.

Greene, who tallied three points on the night for the Skyhawks, beat Carbonneau to the right side from the top of the crease to make it 4-0 at 7:05 of the second period, but the Penmen recovered to outshoot the Skyhawks 11-6 in the period and got on the board with a power-play goal from junior Brandon Bradley (Wichita, Kan.) with minutes to go before the second intermission.

Southern New Hampshire stormed back with a four-goal effort in the third, led off by junior Frank O’Connor (Arlington, Mass.) at 2:33. After senior Brandon Sheehan (Bedford, Mass.) added another to make it 4-3 with 12 minutes to go, Gordon potted the Skyhawks’ crucial fifth goal from Greene and Todesca to stretch the lead back to two, but the Penmen responded with a pair of goals from seniors Neil Adams (Gardner, Mass.) and Bobby Bryant (Nashua, N.H.), while freshman Tyler Pascucci (North Reading, Mass.) picked up assists on both.

The Skyhawks had a handful of late chances in the overtime period, led by three attempts near the crease from Greene, but neither team managed a shot on target against Chapdelaine or Carbonneau, who finished with 23 saves.

Stonehill (2-9-1, 1-1-1 NE-10) will visit Wentworth Institute of Technology on Thursday at 7 p.m. to wrap up the first half of the season.