BOSTON, Mass. – After suffering an 8-1 defeat at Salve Regina back on January 20, the Wentworth Institute of Technology hockey team earned a split of the season series as the Leopards defeated the Seahawks, 4-1, in the regular-season finale for both teams. Freshman Sam Levin (Simsbury, Conn.) and sophomores Erik Andersson (Madison, N.J.), Jake McDonough (Marshfield, Mass.), and Chris Sattler (East Longmeadow, Mass.) all netted goals for the Leopards.
With the win, the Leopards improved to 9-10-2 and 8-7-1 in conference play and secured the No. 5 seed in the ECAC Northeast tournament. The Leopards will travel to fourth-seeded Suffolk at a date and time to be announced. Salve Regina falls to 14-10-1 (9-6-1) and will be the No. 3 seed in the upcoming tournament. The Seahawks will host sixth-seeded Johnson & Wales.
Wentworth managed to find the back of the net twice within the first stanza. Levin's goal sailed into the bottom right hand corner out the reach of Salve Regina goalie Pete McNamara (Germantown, Md.) at the 1:03 mark with a helper from freshman Byron Carlisle (Orleans, Mass.). Five minutes later, the Seahawks answered with their lone goal of the game on a power-play opportunity. With an assist from senior Alex Pompeo (Hingham, Mass.), freshman Shaun Patry's (Penfield, N.Y.) 10th marker of the season whipped past Leopards senior goalie Joel Miller (Calgary, Alta.) and squared the game at 1-1. With 5:51 remaining in the first, seniors Mike Cox (Marlborough, Mass.) and Steven McManus (Westwood, Mass.) set up Andersson to help give the Black & Gold the 2-1 lead after one period.
McDonough recovered a turnover committed by the Seahawks at the blue line and zoomed up the middle to tally the Leopard's third goal of the game just four minutes into the second. After McDonough's goal, however, the offense for both teams was silenced for the remainder of the period.
Sattler iced the game with his fourth marker of the season, coming midway through a penalty-filled third period.
Miller made 30 saves in the win, while McNamara made a total of 21 stops for the Seahawks. Salve Regina held the 31-25 shot advantage in the tilt.
The all-time series between Wentworth and Suffolk is 21-10-2 in favor of Leopards and the team split their two meetings this season. This is just the second time in series history they will meet in the postseason as the Rams bested the Leopards, 3-2 in overtime in the 2008 ECAC Northeast quarterfinals.