EVERETT, Mass. – Junior Mark Zhukrov (St. Petersburg, Russia) scored 1:08 into overtime to lift the 15th-ranked Curry hockey team to a 3-2 victory over Wentworth Institute of Technology in Commonwealth Coast Conference play Friday night.
Three different players scored for Curry while graduate student Daniel Eruzione (Winthrop, Mass.) had a pair of assists.
The Colonels looked like they were going to pick up the win in regulation before Leopard junior Kevin Obssuth (Chester, N.J.) scored with 52 seconds left to even the score at 2-all.
THE BASICS:
RECORDS: CC: 9-3-1 (7-2-1 CCC); WIT: 3-9-2 (2-7-1 CCC)
SHOTS: CC: 35; WIT: 25
PENALTIES/MINUTES: CC: 4/8; WIT: 10/39
POWER PLAYS: CC: 2-7; WIT: 1-2
GOALIE SAVES: CC: Reid Cooper, 23; WIT: Will Oliver, 32
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- While neither team scored in the first period, Curry had a 14-10 shot advantage, which included a pair shots on the power play. Sophomore Will Oliver (Chesterfield, Mo.) made numerous solid saves in the frame, including a stretch of four in a span of three minutes.
- Wentworth broke the ice at the 1:38 mark of the second period when junior Anthony Blad (Suffield, Conn.) scored after senior Jake McKenelley (Middleton, Mass.) and junior Sam Milnes (Middletown, R.I.) provided assists. That goal would hold up as the lone marker of the period and the Colonels had an 11-7 shot advantage.
- Curry tied the game at the 12:43 mark of the third period when senior Nick Magill-Diaz (Clawson, Mich.) scored on a shot that beat Oliver to the left. Curry took a 2-1 lead with just under four minutes left to play as senior Eetu Selanne (Coto de Caza, Calif.) scored on the power play from Zhukov and Eruzione.
- A plethora of penalties with 2:30 remaining in regulation resulted in Wentworth having a man advantage. After a shot by junior Guillaume Bose (San Jose, Calif.) was stopped by senior Reid Cooper (Corman Park, Sask.), Oliver was pulled for the extra attacker. The move paid off as Obssuth netted his team-leading eighth goal of the season when he found the top right corner off assists from Bose and freshman George Weiner (Wayne, N.J.).
- Oliver came up big at the end of regulation as he denied a bid from freshman Eelis Laaksonen (Oulu, Finland). Laaksonen had a pair of shot attempts just before time expired, with one going wide and Weiner blocking the other one.
- Overtime saw senior Kalle Sundell (Helsinki, Finland) put a shot on goal early, which was saved by Oliver. Curry maintained possession in the Wentworth zone where Eruzione sent a pass from the left faceoff circle to Sundell in the middle. Sundell slid a pass to Zhukov tucked a shot from inside the right circle past Oliver at the 1:08 mark of the extra frame.
- Cooper made 23 saves while Oliver made 32 stops. Curry had a 35-25 shot advantage.
SERIES NOTES:
- Tonight marked the 48th all-time meeting between the two teams with Curry holding a 25-18-5 series edge.
NEXT UP:
- The two teams face off again tomorrow in Canton, Mass., at 3:00 p.m.
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