Two Powerplay Goals Not Enough, Golden Bears Drop 4-2 Contest to No. 6 Curry on Senior Night

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (February 11, 2023) – The Western New England men's ice hockey team celebrated their senior class on Saturday prior to puck drop, honoring Jacob Ondrejko, Jordan Giacomin, John D'Aniello, Demitrios Stefanou, Colten Lancaster, Conor Leach, and Jason Diamond. The Golden Bears would battle, though would drop a 4-2 contest to sixth ranked Curry College. 

Records:

• Western New England: 7-15-1, 5-13-1
• No. 6 Curry College: 18-4-1, 14-4-1

How it Happened:

After honoring their seniors, WNE would drop the puck with five of their seniors plus their goaltender on the ice. WNE would need to tame top ranked Curry early as Colten Lancaster would come away with early saves to help keep Curry off the scoreboard. Curry would eventually get on the board first when Tauri Haddon-Harris would net his first career collegiate goal for the Colonels, giving Curry a 1-0 lead. Gage Dill and George Vonakis would grab assists on the play to put the visitors in front. Curry would continue to pick up the pressure and would respond with a powerplay goal when Mark Zhukov found the back of the net on assists from Timmy Kent and George Vonakis to give Curry the 2-0 lead with under four minutes to play in the period. The Golden Bears would grab a powerplay chance of their own and would find the back of the net when Justin Sullivan jammed home a deflection in front of the goal, giving WNE their first goal of the night. Sam Mitchell and Jordan Giacomin would notch assists for the Golden Bears as Curry took a 2-1 lead after one period of play. Curry would take 21 shots in the first period while WNE came away with 11. 

The sixth ranked team in the nation came away with a quick tally in the third period when Gage Dill found the scoreboard for the second time in the game, his first goal of the game on assists from Jacob Crespo and Austan Bellefeulle to give Curry a 3-1 lead. Western New England would dominate much of the possession in the second frame though GK Reid Cooper for the Colonels would stand tall, making all 17 saves in the period to calm the Golden Bears storm. CC shot just seven times in the second period as Colten Lancaster made all seven saves in the period. 

In the third period, Western New England would grab another powerplay chance and found the back of the net off a faceoff win from John D'Aniello. The senior would win the faceoff back to Justin Sullivan who tapped the puck to Jordan Giacomin who sent a laser shot into the top right corner of the net to give the Golden Bears their second PP goal of the night and second total goal of the game, trailing 3-2. Western New England would see Curry respond, though Lancaster continued his excellent play, keep Curry off the scoreboard. The Colonels, however, would put together one final shot from their own blue line that bounced into an empty net as Gage Dill put together his second goal of the game and third point of the night to ice the game in favor of the Colonels, 4-2. 

Inside the Crease:

• Both Jordan Giacomin and Justin Sullivan earned two points each for the Golden Bears in the losing effort. 
• Curry's Gage Dill led the way, scoring twice and picking up two assists. 
• Curry outshot WNE 16-8 in the third period and 44-36 overall in the contest. 
• Curry takes the season series 2-1 with their win tonight. 
• Thank you to seniors Jacob Ondrejko, Jordan Giacomin, John D'Aniello, Demitrios Stefanou, Colten Lancaster, Conor Leach, and Jason Diamond for all you have done for WNE and WNE men's ice hockey!

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears host Wentworth Institute of Technology on Friday, February 17 at 8:00 pm for a must-win CCC game with playoff implications on the line.