BOSTON, Mass. – Seven different players tallied goals, including senior Frank Butler (East Haven, Conn.) and junior Sean Fleming (Easthampton, N.J.), who each added a pair of assists as the Nichols College men's hockey team rallied past Wentworth Institute of Technology, 7-3 in anECAC Northeast contest played at Walter Brown Arena.
With the win the Bison remain undefeated, improving to 5-0 on the season (3-0 ECAC Northeast) while the Leopards drop their second straight to stand at 3-2 (1-2).
Eight minutes into the game, Wentworth was able to score back-to-back goals in a span of 11 seconds. Sophomore defenseman Patrick Kearns (Brick, N.J.) gathered the puck in his defensive zone along the right boards before firing a wrist shot from the right circle that found the back of the net. Off a center ice face-off win, the Leopards were able to immediately get the puck into the offensive zone. Senior forward Mike Domsodi (Kirkland, Que.) sent the puck from the slot to freshman Chris Sattler (East Longmeadow, Mass.) in the right circle, who one-timed the shot to extend the lead to two.
The Bison were able to get on the board before the period's end. With seven seconds left, senior forward Mike Schwartz (Long Beach, N.Y.) was able to maneuver the puck through the neutral zone and past several defenders before throwing a back-hander on net to make the score 2-1.
Nichols started the second period with an early goal a minute after intermission. Junior Paul Prescott (Oakdale, Minn.) was able to take a rebound off a Butler shot and send it to the back of the net to even the score at two. Six minutes later, freshman forward Scott Cuthrell (Waterford, Mich.) gathered the puck behind the Leopard net and passed it to an open Joe Sposit (Cleveland, Ohio) in the right circle for the one-timer and 3-2 lead. Three minutes later, Curthrell was able to pick the Leopards' pocket with a steal at the red line, leading to a breakaway and the Bison's fourth unanswered goal. Joel Miller (Calgary, Alta.) replaced starting goalie Alex Peck (Kirkland, Que.) after the fourth goal.
Almost two minutes into the third, Wentworth appeared to be making a comeback, as sophomore Matthew Heise (Kirkland, Que.) scored from the left side. Nichols would respond just 34 seconds later, as Fleming scored his second goal of the season to put Nichols up 5-3. Senior Evan Jones (Farmington Hills, Mich.) scored his first goal of the season at 9:59 in the third and Butler scored the empty-net goal with 39 seconds remaining.
Junior Alex Larson (Madison, Ala.) made 28 saves in net for the Bison. Peck made 10 saves and Miller stopped 13 shots.
Wentworth resumes play against conference foe Western New England at home on Wednesday night. Nichols will also play host to a conference game of their own on Wednesday night against Suffolk.