Second Period Sinks Golden Bears in 5-2 Loss to Nichols

O'Dea, Rogers score for Western New England

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (November 17, 2016) – The Western New England University ice hockey team surrendered a trio of second period goals in a 5-2 setback to Nichols College this evening in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Olympia Ice Center.

Top Performers
• Sophomore forward Matt O'Dea (Orland Park, Ill.) and sophomore defenseman Edmund Rogers (Creve Coeur, Mo.) each scored in the third period for the Golden Bears.

• Sophomore forward Matthew Menta (Lima, Pa.) and junior forward Scott Cuthrell (Waterford, Mich.), who were among five different goal scorers for Nichols, tallied two points each with one goal and one assist.

Game Review
• Nichols took a 1-0 lead just 5:30 into the contest when Menta sent a pass from the corner to Cuthrell, who was waiting in front of the net to one-time a shot past Western New England sophomore goalie Kevin Gollmer (Flourtown, Pa.).  
• Menta then scored on a feed from Cuthrell at the 4:41 mark of the second period. The Bison made it 3-0 ten minutes later, before capitalizing on a power play to open up a 4-0 lead in the closing seconds of the period.
• Western New England got on the board with just under eight minutes remaining in the game, when senior Tyler Pionk (Hermantown, Minn.) found O'Dea in front of the net for his second goal of the season.
• The Golden Bears would take advantage of a power play to cut their deficit to 4-2 with 45 seconds remaining. Junior forward David DiSchaivi (Etobicoke, Ont.) won a faceoff in Western New England's offensive zone back to sophomore defenseman Joe Mazza (East Longmeadow, Mass.), who sent a pass across the blue line to Rogers. Rogers fired a shot from the point that got through traffic and found the back of the net for his first goal of the season.
• Nichols tacked on a late goal to extend the final margin back to three, as freshman Hogan Davidson (Duluth, Minn.) scored with 22 seconds remaining.

Notes
• Western New England outshot Nichols 31-29, including a 15-4 advantage over the final 20 minutes of action.
• The Golden Bears also held a 30-29 edge in the faceoff circle, with DiSchaivi leading the way (8-for-13).
• The game featured just four penalties – two for each team. Both Nichols and Western New England capitalized on one of their two opportunities with a man advantage.

Up Next
Western New England (1-4-1, 1-3-1 CCC) will look to bounce back on Saturday, when the Golden Bears return to the Olympia to host Wentworth at 3:40 p.m. Nichols (5-1, 4-1 CCC) heads home to host Salve Regina.