Fourth Seeded Salve Regina Gets by Men’s Ice Hockey in CCC Quarterfinals

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (February 22, 2023) – The Western New England men's ice hockey team fell on the road on Wednesday night, to the fourth seeded Salve Regina University Seahawks by a final score of 5-2. WNE, the fifth seed, grabbed two goals after Salve took a quick 2-0 lead, though the third period would belong to the hosts, scoring three goals to advance to the CCC Semifinal round.

Records:

• Western New England: 7-17-1
• Salve Regina University: 14-9-1

How it Happened:
Western New England opened with the first two of three shots in the game, though Salve goalkeeper Levi Mitchell denied those two chances for the Golden Bears. On the other end of the nice, Salve's Mitch Walinski took a wrist shot from just inside the right-side circle that a sliding GK Colten Lancaster denied to keep the score even at zero. WNE would see Salve turn up the pressure, grabbing 16 shots on goal in the opening period. Mitch Walinski would score the first goal of the game on a shot from outside the top of the circle to give the Seahawks a 1-0 lead with seven minutes to play. Anthony Azzano grabbed his sixth assist of the season on Walinski's 12^th mark of the year. WNE would quickly respond when Jordan Giacomin took the puck to the middle of the offensive zone though ringed the crossbar, keeping WNE off the scoreboard. Salve would take a 1-0 lead after one period of play, taking a 16-6 shots on goal advantage after the first 20 minutes.

Salve Regina opened the scoring just two minutes into the second period to take a two goal lead in the CCC Quarterfinal game when Joseph Kile squeaked a shot past Lancaster. It took Western New England less than two minutes to respond as Everest Schneider would take a block shot up the ice and send a blistering shot into the twine that gave the Golden Bears their first goal of the night, an unassisted tally, for Schneider's second goal of the season, quickly cutting Salve's two goal lead to one. Western New England would even the score at two with a tip-in goal by Conor Leach, who was able to get a piece of a wrister shot from the hashmarks from Shane Miller to tie the game at two. Salve Regina continued to put shots up on goal in the period, putting another 16 shots on WNE, though Lancaster made another 15 saves to keep Salve at bey. WNE took 13 shots on goal in the period with Levi Mitchell making 11 saves. The final 20 minutes would be needed to decide a winner, with the winner heading into the CCC Semifinal round while the loser would see their season come to a close.

The Golden Bears saw Salve draw first in the third period as the Seahawks were able to take advantage of a threat right in the middle of the ice when Hoon Kim picked the top right corner of the net to give Salve a 3-2 lead. WNE would pick up a five-minute penalty that would see Salve collect two added goals as both Joseph Kile and Logan Calder would find the back of the net to give Salve Regina a 5-2 lead. The Golden Bears wouldn't be able to make a comeback from there, falling in the CCC Quarterfinal round by a final score of 5-2.

Inside the Crease:

• WNE senior goalkeeper Colten Lancaster was stellar between the pipes, coming away with 44 saves in the losing effort.
• Everest Schneider, Conor Leach and Shane Miller all picked up points for WNE in the final game of the season.
• Western New England failed to capitalize on any of their six powerplay attempts.
• Salve Regina outshot Western New England 49-32 in the contest while winning the faceoff battle 46-32.
• Joseph Kile led the way for Salve Regina, scoring twice.
• The Seahawks take on top ranked Endicott College in the CCC Semifinals.
• Western New England end the season with a 7-18-1 record.