PAWTUCKET, R.I. – Sophomore Jake McDonough (Marshfield, Mass.) netted a goal and two assists to help the Wentworth Institute of Technology ice hockey team to its second straight win, a 4-1 triumph over Johnson & Wales in ECAC Northeast action.
With the win the Leopards improve to 5-13-2 overall and 4-6-1 in ECAC Northeast play while the Wildcats slip to 9-8-3 (4-5-2).
McDonough netted the only goal of the first period as he created a turnover and skated down the left side before beating junior Joey Ballmer (Kalamazoo, Mich.) at the 10:12 mark.
Freshman Sean Brennan (Stony Point, N.Y.) scored what would prove to be the game-winning goal at 7:54 of the third period when he took a pass from McDonough and beat Baller with a wrist shot. Sophomore Erik Andersson (Madison, N.J.) put the Black & Gold on top by a 3-0 score when he took a pass from Brennan along the left side and scored with 4:05 left.
Johnson & Wales pulled Ballmer for an extra attacker with 3:23 left and nearly a minute later it paid off when junior Michael Mazzotta (Mars, Pa.) fed senior Cody Sarmiento (Sarasota, Fla.) who beat senior Joel Miller (Calgary, Alta.).
That would be as close as the Wildcats would get as McDonough would feed freshman Ben Mello (Pawtucket, R.I.) for his first career goal, which came on the empty net with 39 seconds left.
Miller made 33 saves in the contest while Ballmer stopped 16. Wentworth was outshot 34-20.
The Leopards host Endicott at Walter Brown Arena on Wednesday night.