Freshman defenseman Travis Army dished a pair of assists for the Skyhawks on Wednesday night. (PHOTO BY Bert Lane) |
Chang goal with 1:24 remaining in overtime lifts Wildcats to third straight win
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (December 12, 2012) – Johnson & Wales University equalized late in regulation and went on to claim a 4-3 overtime victory over Stonehill College in a non-conference ice hockey matchup at Foxboro Sports Center tonight.
Freshman Daniel Chang (Woodland Hills, Calif.) scored the game winning goal with 1:24 remaining in overtime and added an assist for a two point night for Johnson & Wales. Senior Trevor Jewell (Muskegon, Mich.) dished two assists for the Wildcats, who also got goals from seniors Eddie Patterson (Ciniminson, N.J.) and Danny Kaufman (Scotch Plains, N.J.) as well as freshman Cody Sarmiento (Sarasota, Fla.).
Senior goaltender Matt Cooper (Perrysburg, Ohio) preserved the win for Johnson & Wales with 28 saves. Freshman Matthew Palella (Chicago, Ill.) got the start in goal for Stonehill and finished with 24 stops as the Skyhawks finished with a 31-28 edge in shots on goal for the night. Stonehill was 2-for-9 on the power play, while Johnson & Wales finished 1-for-7 with the man advantage.
Three different players notched goals for Stonehill, with freshman defenseman Travis Army (Englewood, Colo./Worcester Academy) posting a multi-point outing for the Skyhawks with two assists. Sophomores Brendan Greene (Weymouth, Mass.) and Stephen Balsamo (Atkinson, N.H./Brewster Academy) as well as freshman Thomas DePoalo (Mendham, N.J./Morristown Beard School) collected goals for the Skyhawks.
Sophomore Brendan Greene's power play goal to start the third period gave the Skyhawks a 3-2 lead. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
Johnson & Wales broke in front with two first period goals just 29-seconds apart. Sarmiento opened the scoring with his second collegiate goal at 4:15, assisted by senior Jason Pietrasiak (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and freshman Josh Obregon (Omaha, Neb.). Chang set up the Wildcats second goal from Kaufman at 4:44, marking his sixth goal of the year.
Stonehill bounced back from the two goal deficit with a pair of second period goals. DePoalo put the Skyhawks on the board with his second goal of the season when he knocked in a rebound off an Army shot 7:40 into the middle frame, with classmate Robbie Dorgan (Ossining, N.Y.) also assisting. Balsamo netted the equalizer with 1:30 remaining in the period for his fifth goal of the season, on the power play, assisted by Army and freshman Dan Graham (Billerica, Mass./Williston Northampton).
Greene put Stonehill in front just 1:15 into the third period on the power play for his first goal of the year, assisted by senior captain Dana Borges (Taunton, Mass./Williston Northampton) and junior Bryan Rooney (Canton, Mass./New Hampton School). Johnson & Wales regrouped from the three goal rally for Stonehill and forced overtime with a power play goal by Patterson, assisted by Jewell, his third of the year. Chang's seventh goal of the year proved to be the difference with 1:24 left in overtime, assisted by Jewell.
Stonehill (7-9-0, 3-1-0 NE-10) is now off for over a month for exams and the holiday break before returning to action on Wednesday, January 16, to host Becker College for a non-conference matchup at 7 p.m. Johnson & Wales (5-7-0, 2-3-0 ECAC-NE) faces Fitchburg State University at the UMass Boston Codfish Bowl on January 5 at 4 p.m.
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter and Facebook. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks mobile app on iTunes and the Android Market.