Sophomore Thomas DePoalo helped Stonehill top Southern New Hampshire tonight with his two-goal effort.

Skyhawks pick up two points, move to 6-0 in Northeast-10

FOXBORO, Mass. (January 25, 2014) – In a game that featured 19 total penalties, the Stonehill College ice hockey team capitalized on three of its 12 power play opportunities to defeat visiting Southern New Hampshire University, 4-2, tonight in Northeast-10 action at the Foxboro Sports Center. Stonehill has won four games in a row for the first time since the 2009-10 season, and the Skyhawks are now 6-0 in conference play.

Stonehill was led offensively by sophomore forwards Thomas DePoalo (Mendham, N.J./Morristown Beard School) and Robbie Dorgan (Ossining, N.Y./Boston Bulldogs). DePoalo recorded two points on a pair of goals, while Dorgan picked up two with one goal and one assist. Classmate Nate Soter (Danvers, Mass./Pingree School) also found the back of the net for the Skyhawks. Senior captain Bryan Rooney (Canton, Mass./New Hampton School) and sophomore defenseman Travis Army (Englewood, Colo./Worcester Academy) provided one assist each.

Junior netminder Chris Tasiopoulos (Norwell, Mass./Thayer Academy) was once again solid as the last line of defense, stopping 20 of the 22 shots that came his way to preserve the win for the Skyhawks, while improving to 8-5-0 this season.

Southern New Hampshire got on the board early in the first period, when a Stonehill turnover near the front of the net resulted in a goal for sophomore forward Jim Gabrione (Boca Raton, Fla./Tampa Bay Juniors). Gabrione entered tonight's contest with the second highest point total in the NE-10, with 24.

Stonehill responded with five minutes remaining in the opening period, as the Skyhawks capitalized on a Southern New Hampshire penalty and DePoalo scored his third goal of the season with the help of Dorgan and Army. The game would remain tied through the end of the period.

Sophomore Robbie Dorgan posted a multi-point night with one goal and one assist.

Stonehill then grabbed a 2-1 advantage just 2:45 into the second period when Dorgan rattled home a top-shelf shot following a nice feed from Rooney. Soter doubled the Skyhawks lead at the 12:38 mark of the middle period, but the Penmen would draw closer less than two minutes later as freshman Sean McTiernan (Grayson, Ga./Portland Jr. Pirates) scored on an assist from junior forward John Humphrey (Charlestown, Mass./New Hampton School).

Southern New Hampshire was unable to score for the remainder of the contest, however, and DePoalo potted his second score of the night when the Penmen pulled senior goaltender Tyler Holske (Attleboro, Mass./South Shore Kings) with less than a minute left in the game. Holske made 25 saves in the losing effort.

Tonight's contest pitted Stonehill, the NE-10's top penalty killing team, against Southern New Hampshire, the league's best power play squad. The Skyhawks came into tonight's game having killed off an NE-10-best 84% of opposing team's power plays, while the Penmen had scored on 32.6% of their opportunities with a man advantage. Stonehill was able to excel in both areas of its special teams tonight, killing off all five of Southern New Hampshire's power play chances while scoring three times with a man advantage.

Stonehill (10-9-0, 6-0-0) returns to action Tuesday night at the Foxboro Sports Center, as the Skyhawks are set to host UMass Dartmouth in non-conference action beginning at 7 p.m. After Tuesday's contest, Stonehill will have only five games remaining, all of which are against NE-10 competition. Southern New Hampshire (12-6-1, 4-2-0 NE-10), which had its four-game winning streak snapped tonight, will look to start a new streak next Saturday when the Penmen host conference foe Assumption College.

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