Skyhawks and Greyhounds meet for seventh time in NE-10 Tournament

Senior captain Patrick Green leads the Skyhawks offensively with 27 points on the season.

EASTON, Mass. (February 23, 2012) – Third-seeded Stonehill College will participate in the Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) Men's Ice Hockey Championship for the 13^th time in program history when the Skyhawks travel to second-seeded Assumption College on Saturday, February 25 for a 5:30 p.m. start at Buffone Arena.

Admission for Saturday's game is $5.00 for adults, $3.00 for senior citizens and children and $1.00 for students with a valid student ID. The winner of Saturday's contest will play the winner of #1 Saint Anselm (12-8-5, 3-0-2 NE-10) and #4 Saint Michael's (6-17-2, 2-2-1 NE-10) for the NE-10 championship on Saturday, March 3 at the highest seed remaining a time to be determined later.

Stonehill (9-11-3, 6-3-2 NE-10) enters the NE-10 Tournament semifinal round with a 3-0-1 record overall in its last four games. During that stretch, the Skyhawks earned their first win over the Greyhounds, 3-2, in their fourth attempt this season on Saturday, February 18 at home.

The Skyhawks are 3-3 overall against Assumption in the NE-10 Tournament since the 1999-2000 season. Stonehill dropped the last playoff meeting between the two clubs, 5-2, in the quarterfinal round of the 2010-2011 tournament. Both teams have only met once in the semifinal round with Stonehill claiming a 6-2 victory over Assumption on Wednesday, February 28, 2007. The Skyhawks went on to defeat Saint Anselm College in the championship round for their first-ever NE-10 title.

Stonehill has seen greater success in the win column on the road this year as the Skyhawks have compiled a 7-4-1 mark overall away from the Foxboro Sports Center. At home, Stonehill put together a record of 2-5-2 overall but closed out its last five contests on home ice with a 2-1-2 showing.

Offensively this season, senior captain Patrick Greene (Weymouth, Mass./Catholic Memorial) leads the squad in points with 27 total on seven goals and 20 assists. Greene is tied for second in the conference in points and tied for first overall in assists, both with Tim King (Weymouth, Mass.) of Saint Anselm College. Sophomore forward Bill Carey (Weymouth, Mass.) ranks second on the team in points with nine goals and 12 assists while junior forward Dana Borges (Taunton, Mass./Coyle & Cassidy) is third overall with 19 points (four goals, 15 assists). Stonehill is also second in the NE-10 in scoring offense at 3.22 goals per game.

Freshman netminder Chris Tasiopoulos (Norwell, Mass./Thayer Academy) anchors the Skyhawks defense with an 8-9-1 record, a .910 save percentage and a 2.99 goals against average (GAA). The freshman ranks second in the conference in GAA, third in save percentage and third in winning percentage. Tasiopoulos, along with the rest of the defense, currently ranks second in scoring defense at 3.35 goals per game and second on the penalty kill at 80.3 percent. Assumption leads the conference on the penalty kill at 81.0 percent while both teams are tied for first with six shorthanded goals apiece on the season.

Freshman Chris Tasiopoulos ranks second in the NE-10 in goals against average and third in save percentage.

Assumption (13-10-1, 7-3-1 NE-10) has gone 3-2-0 overall in its last five NE-10 games entering the tournament this weekend. At home this season, the Greyhounds have posted a 5-3-1 record overall and have not lost to a NE-10 opponent, 4-0-1 overall.

Senior forward Taylor Larsen (Blackstone, Mass./Worcester Academy) paces the Greyhounds offensively on the season with a conference leading 29 points on 11 goals and 18 assists. Larsen is fourth in the NE-10 in goal scoring, third in assists, second in power play points (4-8-12) and fifth in power play goals. In last season's quarterfinal matchup, Larsen netted two markers and dished out one assist to lead Assumption over Stonehill, 5-2. The Greyhounds fell to Saint Anselm College, 3-2, in the semifinal round.

Senior forward Pat O'Kane (Hollis, N.H./Bishop Guertin) and sophomore forward Nick Mattiello (Johnston, R.I./Bishop Hendricken) are tied for second on the team in points with 22 total. O'Kane has scored a conference-leading 14 goals to go along with eight assists while Mattiello has an even line of 11 goals and 11 assists. O'Kane also leads the NE-10 in game winning goals with four. Against Stonehill this season, the trio of Larsen, Mattiello and O'Kane have combined for 16 points on six goals and ten assists in four games played. O'Kane has potted four goals and one assist, Larsen has one marker and six assists and Mattiello has one goal and three helpers.

In net, sophomore Bobby Bowden (Springfield, Mass./Williston-Northampton) is 9-3-1 overall on the season with a .933 save percentage and a 3.13 GAA. Bowden ranks first in save percentage, first in winning percentage and third in the conference in GAA. Earlier this season in a 3-2 win over Stonehill, Bowden turned away a school record 69 shots making 29 saves in the first period, 17 in the second and 23 in the third. Bowden broke a 40-year-old school record set by Larry Thomas who recorded 68 saves against Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1972.

The NE-10 Championship game will be played at the highest remaining seed on Saturday, March 3 at a time to be determined later.

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