Skyhawks rebound from rocky start, but rally comes up short

Pat Greene scored his fourth goal of the season for the Skyhawks. (PHOTO BY Ian Thomas)

FOXBORO, Mass. (February 15, 2011) – The Stonehill College men’s ice hockey team staged a third-period rally but couldn’t make up an early deficit against Northeast-10 Conference power Saint Michael’s College, dropping a 6-3 decision at home on Tuesday evening.

The Skyhawks were shaky in the opening period as Saint Michael’s racked up four goals within the first ten minutes, but recovered to come back for three against the conference-leading Purple Knights. Bryan Rooney (Canton, Mass./Canton), Chris Gorovitz (Framingham, Mass./Framingham), and Patrick Greene (Weymouth, Mass./Catholic Memorial) each scored for Stonehill, while Kevin Diamond (Lakeville, Conn./Housatonic Valley Regional) and Derek Chapdelaine (Granby, Mass./Springfield Cathedral) split time between the pipes for the Skyhawks.

Saint Michael’s dominated early in a lopsided first period as Michael Jangro (Reading, Mass.) and Nick Sheehan (Potsdam, N.Y.) netted a pair within the opening five minutes, and Dan Pelletier (Sutton, Mass.) added a third on a blast from the slot to stake the Purple Knights to a 3-0 lead. Josh Geary (Wellesley, Mass.) made it 4-0 from close range on the right side before the Skyhawks could regroup to limit the Purple Knights’ point-blank opportunities.

Following a quiet run late in the first period, though, Saint Michael’s came back with a fifth strike at 1:22 of the second period when Reave MacKinnon (Winnipeg, Manitoba) clanged an attempt from the left circle off the pipe and Sam Torney (Shelburne, Vt.) was there to stuff in the rebound. The trailing Skyhawks registered just five shots on target during the period, but Rooney brought some life back to the offense when he converted a penalty shot to get the Skyhawks on the board. After he was tripped up on a breakaway at 5:57, Rooney beat Purple Knights goaltender Mike Dizgun (Kirkland, Quebec) on the stick side to make it 5-1.

Sheehan added his second of the night at 1:18 of the third period to chase Diamond, but the Skyhawks responded with an aggressive offensive effort to push the action into their attacking zone for most of the final period. With Torney and Dan Evarts (Hinesburg, Vt.) both in the box for Saint Michael’s midway through, Stonehill took advantage and potted a pair of power-play goals against relief goaltender Brian McWade (Franklin, Mass.) to cut the margin to 6-3. Gorovitz converted the 5-on-3 power play when he took a feed from J.J. Sabin (Milton, Mass./Milton) to the right circle and knocked it just inside the near pipe, and Greene closed out the ensuing 5-on-4 when Angelo Todesca (Westwood, Mass./Catholic Memorial) faked a shot from the top of the slot and dished the puck to Greene inside the right point, where Greene drove home a one-timer to wrap up the Skyhawks’ night.

Stonehill (5-15-1, 3-5-1 NE-10) hosts Franklin Pierce for the Skyhawks’ regular-season home finale on Saturday at 4:45 p.m.