Southern New Hampshire Tops Western New England, 3-1, in Manchester PAL/Stovepipe Opener

Beck tallies team-leading sixth goal of the season for Golden Bears

HOOKSETT, N.H. (November 25, 2017) – Southern New Hampshire University posted a 3-1 victory over Western New England University in the opening game of the Manchester Police Athletic League (PAL)/Stovepipe tournament on Saturday afternoon at the Ice Den. 

Top Performers
• Junior forward Steve Beck (Milton, N.Y.) notched his team-leading sixth goal of the season for the Golden Bears.
• Juniors Connor Graham (Norfolk, Mass.) and Matt O'Dea (Orland Park, Ill.) were credited with assists on Beck's goal.

• Senior Chris Moquin (Hooksett, N.H.) was among three different goal scorers for the Penmen, while sophomore Brett Strawn (Wareham, Mass.) registered a pair of assists.
• Southern New Hampshire sophomore netminder Kurt Gutting (Weymouth, Mass.) recorded 22 saves on 23 shots in his first career start.

Game Review
• The Golden Bears outshot the Penmen 8-3 in the opening period, but neither team was able to find the back of the net as the contest remained scoreless heading into the first intermission.
• Southern New Hampshire sophomore Jared Goudreau (Manchester, N.H.) put the Penmen ahead just over eight minutes into the second period with his second goal of the year. After senior Timothy Baylis (West Haven, Conn.) had his shot from the left faceoff circle denied, Strawn corralled the rebound and slid a feed to Goudreau in the slot, and he fired a one-timer under the crossbar to make it 1-0 at 11:42 of the frame.
• The lead doubled less than two minutes later when Strawn tallied his second helper of the stanza on a power play goal off the stick of Moquin. Senior Matt McLelland (Reading, Mass.) fed Moquin along the boards, and he cycled the puck to Strawn in the corner. As Strawn began to take the puck behind the net, he sent a behind-the-back pass to Moquin along the goal line, and he punched home his fourth of the year with 6:24 remaining in the frame.
• Neither side was able to crack the scoreboard for the remainder of the second and the first six minutes of the third before freshman Steven Dumond (Seekonk, Mass.) registered his first career goal with 13:46 left in regulation.
• The Golden Bears would not go quietly, however, as they trimmed the SNHU advantage back to a pair at 8:36 of the third. Beck potted his sixth of the year with help of Graham and O'Dea to get Western New England back in the game. It would be as close as the Golden Bears would get, however, as Gutting saved the final five shots Western New England put on frame. 

Notes
• Southern New Hampshire outshot Western New England 26-23, but the Golden Bears held a 39-33 advantage in the faceoff circle.
• Beck and O'Dea rank first and second on the team with 11 and nine points, respectively.
• Western New England junior goaltender Kevin Gollmer (Flourtown, Pa.) made 23 saves in net.

Up Next
Western New England (3-5-1) will take on UMass Dartmouth tomorrow, while Southern New Hampshire (3-2-1) faces Suffolk in the championship contest.