Graham Nets Overtime Game-Winner as Golden Bears Defeat King’s College, 3-2

Carducci saves 26 of 28 shots in third start of the season

PITTSTON, Pa. (January 9, 2018) – Junior Connor Graham (Norfolk, Mass.) scored the game-winning goal with less than a second remaining in overtime, lifting the Western New England University ice hockey team to a 3-2 victory over King's College on Tuesday evening in non-conference action at the Revolution Ice Centre. 

Top Performers
• Graham, who also scored the overtime game-winner in Western New England's 3-2 victory over Salve Regina on November 3, found the back of the net for the third time this season and fourth time in his career.
• Juniors Tyler Hines (North Haven, Conn.) and Matt O'Dea (Orland Park, Ill.) both recorded goals, while classmate David Kleyman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) was credited with two assists in just his second game since returning to the lineup.
• Making his third start of the season, sophomore goaltender Kyle Carducci (Hartford, Conn.) stopped 26 of the 28 shots that he faced.

• Freshmen forwards Orion Linnehan (Stuart, Fla.) and Anthony Frati (Churchville, N.Y.) powered the King's offense with one goal each, while junior defenseman Nicholas Palumbo (Woodbridge, Ont.) registered two assists.

Game Review
O'Dea got the Golden Bears on the board with just over four minutes remaining in the first period and Hines doubled Western New England's advantage with less than three minutes left in the second. The Monarchs pulled back to within a goal, however, when Linnehan beat Carducci in the final minute of the middle frame. 

King's tied the contest 3:05 into the third period, when Frati scored with the help of assists from Palumbo and Linnehan. Neither team was able to secure a go-ahead goal over the final 16:55 of regulation, sending the contest to overtime.

King's outshot Western New England 4-2 in the five-minute extra session, but Western New England's final shot proved to be the difference as Graham buried the game-winner with assists from Kleyman and junior CJ Totillo (Brooklyn, N.Y.) just before the buzzer.

Notes
• Western New England outshot King's 38-28, but the Monarchs held a 39-37 edge in the faceoff circle.
• Neither team had success with a man advantage, as both the Golden Bears and Monarchs went 0-for-2 on the power play.
• O'Dea has recorded at least one point in eight of the last nine games. 

Up Next
Western New England (6-9-1) will be right back in action tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. at Bryn Athyn (Pa.) College, while King's (0-15) returns to the ice on Friday, January 19 at SUNY Canton.