December 9, 2010

Leopard Skaters End First Semester on High Note

BOSTON, Mass. – Four different players scored goals, including sophomore forward Anthony Principato (Holmdel, N.J.) who also had an assist as the Wentworth hockey team won its win streak to three and its unbeaten streak to five with a 4-1 win over Stonehill in a non-league game at Matthews Arena.

Principato wasted little time giving the Leopards a 1-0 game as he capitalized on an errant clearing pass at the blue line.  His initial shot was saved by Skyhawk junior netminder Tyler Jackson (Little Silver, N.J.), but the rebound was put home to the right side.  The Leopards held a 13-4 shot advantage after 20:00 of action, but would only lead, 1-0, at the end of the period.

At the 1:07 mark of the second period Pricipato and freshman forward Cameron Gibson (Valencia, Calif.) teamed up to assist on junior forward Skylur Jameson's (Long Beach, Calif.) marker, which gave Wentworth a 2-0 lead.  The lead was upped to 3-0 at 10:59 when freshman Fred Gervasi (Mississauga, Ont.) netted a shorthanded goal, which was assisted by freshman defenseman Colten Derickson (Kennewick, Wash.) and sophomore forward Joel Vastl (North Salem, N.H.).  The goal was Gervasi's first career marker.

Stonehill cut the lead to 3-1 at the 4:52 mark of the final period when sophomore defenseman Min Seong Kim (Seoul, South Korea) scored from junior forwards Mario Ranalli (Lakeville, Mass.) and Jordan Fine (Walpole, Mass.).  Leopard freshman Cory Lillie (East Hampton, N.Y.) rounded out the scoring with a goal 1:05 later, which was assisted by senior defenseman Kyle Richardson (San Jose, Calif.) and sophomore defenseman Shaun Jameson (Long Beach, Calif.).

Freshman Chris Azzano (Oshawa, Ont.) improved to 4-1-1 on the year as he made 18 saves in 55:45 of work.  Sophomore Jason Bellonio (Guilford, Conn.) saw his first collegiate action, playing the final 4:15 without seeing a shot.  Jackson finished the night with 29 saves as the Leopards outshot the Skyhawks, 33-19.  Wentworth also killed off all five of its shorthanded opportunities, running its streak to 34 straight shorthanded situations without allowing a goal.

With the win Wentworth improves to 5-3-2 on the year and is idle until playing Fitchburg State in the Codfish Bowl Tournament at UMass Boston on Dec. 29.  Stonehill falls to 2-10-1 and is idle until Jan. 22 when it hosts Assumption.