Second Period Surge Sends Ice Hockey Past Southern New Hampshire, 6-2


Harris nets his first career hat trick as the Skyhawks pick up a huge win over Southern New Hampshire.

Senior Richard Harris nets hat trick to propel Skyhawks

EASTON, Mass. (January 21, 2016) – Senior Richard Harris (Grand Island, New York/Valley Jr. Warriors - EJHL) and classmate Dan Graham (Billerica, Massachusetts/Williston Northampton) recorded three points each to lead the Stonehill College ice hockey team to a 6-2 victory over Southern New Hampshire University tonight in Northeast-10 Conference action at the Foxboro Sports Center.

Harris scored a hat trick, while Graham dished out three assists to give him his first multi-point game of the year. Senior Thomas DePoalo (Mendham, New Jersey/Morristown Beard School) also scored tonight, extending his team leading point streak to four games. Classmates Garrett White (Wakefield, Massachusetts/Boston Bulldogs) and Scott Rolph (Bow, New Hampshire/Tilton School) also chipped in with a goal each.

Freshman netminder William Palmer (Cranston, Rhode Island/Boston Bandits - EHL) improved to 6-4-2 on the season with a 23-save effort, stopping nine shots in the first period, six in the second and eight in the third.

Junior Michael Busconi (Watertown, Massachusetts/Westfield State University) and freshman Ryan Shea (Pembroke, Massachusetts/New England Wolves) each scored for Southern New Hampshire, while sophomore goaltender Ryan Slatsky (Manchester, New Hampshire/Bridgton Academy) made 26 saves for the Penmen.


Senior Dan Graham registered his first multi-point game of the season with three assists on the night.

White opened the scoring just over nine minutes into the contest, beating Slatsky with a wrist shot to the stick side. Stonehill added a second tally a little over two minutes later, as Harris collected a pass from Graham and stuffed it home. Southern New Hampshire cut the lead in half with just 45 seconds to play in the first stanza when Busconi wrestled for position outside of the crease and was able to corral the puck and sneak it past Palmer.

The second period was all Stonehill however, as the Skyhawks came out firing. Harris potted his second goal of the game five minutes into the second period, deking past two defenders and then sending the goalie the wrong way as he flipped the puck with his backhand into the net. DePoalo scored under a minute later when he corralled a beautiful pass from Graham and netted his sixth goal of the season. Rolph capped the scoring on the period, scoring his second goal of the season on an assist from Willy Baker (Suffern, New York/The Hill School).

Southern New Hampshire tried to mount a comeback, scoring five minutes into the third on Shea's second career tally, but the damage had already been done. Harris scored his third and final goal of the game to put the contest out of reach at 6-2.

Stonehill (7-8-3, 2-0-1 NE-10) returns to action on Saturday, when the Skyhawks travel to Worcester to take on NE-10 foe Assumption College at 7:35 p.m. Southern New Hampshire (5-13-1, 3-3-1 NE-10) returns to the ice on Sunday against Franklin Pierce at 8:30 p.m.  

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