Box Score

HARRISVILLE, R.I. – Junior Brett Jackson (Larchmont, N.Y.) scored his 11th goal of the season 1:41 into overtime to give the Nichols College men's ice hockey team a 3-2 win over Wentworth in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Northeast Championship game Saturday night at Levy Rink.

With the win, the Bison earn the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history (2008-09). Jackson was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament while sophomores Tyler Beasley (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Alex Larson (Madison, Ala.), along with freshman Sean Swansen (Salem, N.H.), were named to the All-Tournament Team. The Bison now wait to see who they will play in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament; the selection show takes place Sunday evening at 10:30 p.m.

Sophomore Sean Fleming (Easthampton, N.J.) started the overtime winner when he cycled the puck in the right corner. Senior Greg Strootman (Aston, Pa.) grabbed the puck and corralled it along the right wing boards before playing the puck towards the front of the net. Jackson collected the rebound, spun and tucked the puck inside the left post and sophomore Joel Miller's (Calgary, Alba.) right pad.

"This is an unbelievable experience," said Nichols head coach Kevin Swallow. "Only one other team in the history of this program has brought home an ECAC Northeast Championship, so this is a big accomplishment. Our guys should be proud. They battled tonight and earned it. We talked about getting the ugly goals, and that's what that was."

Wentworth led 1-0 after 20 minutes of play when senior captain Andrew Yarbor (Livonia, Mich.) scored his 10th goal of the season at 6:00. Junior Jordan Bourgonje (Spruce Grove, Alberta) led go of a shot that Larson turned aside, but Yarbor pounced on the rebound and poked it into the right side of the net while falling down. The Leopards also killed off a five-minute major penalty accessed to senior Lawton McCracken (Colborne, Ontario) for elbowing early in the period.

The Bison (18-6-3) evened the score at one in the second when freshman Mike Weaver (Wakefield, Mass.) sent a wrister from the point along the ice, through a screen and between the pads of Miller at 12:32. Jackson won the draw in the left face-off circle and fed Weaver at the point for his eight marker of the season.

In the third, Nichols moved in front 2-1 at 3:18 when sophomore Paul Prescott (Oakdale, Minn.) converted a pass from Beasley into his fifth goal of the season. Junior Joe Sposit (Cleveland, Ohio) sent a pass to Beasley, and the ECAC Northeast First Team selected skated down the left wing boards. He feathered a pass to Prescott in the slot, and he wristed a shot past the blocker of Miller.

The Leopards tied the game less than three minutes later on Bourgonje's sixth goal off the season off a feed from Yarbor. Beasley then rang one off the crossbar on a 3-on-2 with eight minutes remaining before Yarbor struck the right post with a shot from the right circle with under four minutes remaining in regulation. Perhaps the best scoring chance late in the third came from sophomore Adam Frank (Clarkston, Mich.), who stole an outlet pass from Beasley in his own end and walked in along on Larson, only to see his wrist shot sail into the crest on the 6-foot-3 netminder's chest.

"There's a big, strong, physical team, and they wanted to get us off our game plan," added Swallow. "It worked for them early on, but I think we made some adjustments and responded well."

Miller finished the game with 34 saves while Larson turned aside 32 shots. Nichols outshot the Leopards 39-34 and went 0-for-3 with the extra skater. Wentworth, meanwhile, went 0-for-1 on the PP.

The Leopards finish the season 12-13-2.