Junior Nate Soter was one of four Skyhawks with multiple points this evening, as he recorded a goal and an assist in Stonehill's 6-3 win over Southern New Hampshire.

Skyhawks extend regular season NE-10 winning streak to 13 games

FOXBORO, Mass. (November 18, 2014) – Stonehill College utilized a balanced offensive attack with six different goal scorers en route to a 6-3 victory over Southern New Hampshire University this evening in Northeast-10 Conference ice hockey action at the Foxboro Sports Center.

The two teams combined for nine goals from nine different goal scorers in a matchup that pitted last season's NE-10 regular season champion (Stonehill) against the conference's tournament champion (Southern New Hampshire).

Stonehill has now won 13 consecutive regular season NE-10 contests, dating back to the beginning of last season. The Skyhawks became the first NE-10 program to go 11-0 in league play in 2013-14, and they extended their run to 12 victories with last Friday's 3-2 triumph at Assumption College.

Junior Nate Soter (Danvers, Massachusetts/Pingree School) was one of four Skyhawks to record multiple points this evening, as he scored in the second period and added an assist in the third. Juniors Robbie Dorgan (Ossining, New York/Boston Bulldogs), Thomas DePoalo (Mendham, New Jersey/Morristown Beard School) and Thomas Jenkins (Canton, Massachusetts/Williston Northampton) contributed to Stonehill's offensive outburst with two assists each.

The Penmen were led by sophomore Jay Sylvia (Acuchnet, Massachusetts/South Shore Kings) and junior Joe Collins (Mansfield, Massachusetts/Saint Michael's College). Sylvia potted a first period goal and registered a second period assist, while Collins was credited with a pair of assists.

Stonehill got on the board first 3:29 into the high-scoring opening period when junior defenseman Connor Fallon (Weymouth, Massachusetts/South Shore Kings) found classmate Richard Harris (Grand Island, New York/Valley Jr. Warriors) for a power play goal after Southern New Hamphire was whistled for a slashing penalty.

The Skyhawks doubled their lead just over a minute later, as senior captain Stephen Balsamo (Atkinson, New Hampshire/Brewster Academy) stuffed a rebound into the net following a shot by DePoalo.

Sylvia and the Penmen then capitalized on their first power play opportunity, as the sophomore scored at the 12:35 mark to bring the visitors back to within a goal. Southern New Hampshire equalized three minutes later, when a Stonehill turnover resulted in a 2-on-0 break for junior Jim O'Connor (Arlington, Massachusetts/South Kent School) and senior John Humphrey (Charlestown, Massachusetts/New Hampton School). O'Connor dished the puck to Humphrey in front of the Stonehill net, and the senior finished the play with his first goal of the season to even the score heading into the first intermission.

Soter helped the Skyhawks regain a 3-2 lead just 4:11 into the second period, and senior Kevin Aufiero (Canton, Massachusetts/Walpole Express) scored the goal that would eventually stand as the game-winner three minutes later. The Penmen would get a goal back before the end of the period, as junior Jim Gabrione (Boca Raton, Florida/Tampa Bay Juniors) scored with the help of Collins and Sylvia to cut the Penmen's deficit to one heading into the final 20 minutes of play.

Southern New Hampshire would get no closer, however, as Stonehill took its third two-goal lead of the night 4:34 into the third period on junior Kevin Airoldi's (Kennebunk, Maine/Boston Jr. Rangers) second of the season. Sophomore Brian Higgins (Milton, Massachusetts/Proctor Academy) capped the scoring at the 15:46 mark on Dorgan's second assist of the night.

Making his fourth start of the season in net, senior goaltender Chris Tasiopoulos (Norwell, Massachusetts/Thayer Academy) turned aside 17 shots. His counterpart, Southern New Hampshire freshman Matthew MacInnis (Arlington, Texas/Wilkes-Barre Scranton Knights), made 35 saves in defeat.

Stonehill (2-2-1, 2-0-0 NE-10) will be back in action on Saturday afternoon, as the Skyhawks are set to host Franklin Pierce University for an NE-10 contest at the Foxboro Sports Center at 3:30 p.m. Southern New Hampshire (2-2-0, 0-2-0 NE-10) will travel to Worcester, Mass. on Saturday night to take on Assumption.              

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