HARRISVILLE, R.I. – The Nichols College men's ice hockey team scored four second-period goals and twice rallied from one-goal deficits to defeat Stonehill College, 5-4, in ECAC Northeast action at Levy Rink Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Bison improve to 6-0 on the season, the best start in program history. Nichols also improves to 3-0 in conference play. The Skyhawks drop to 0-3 overall and 0-3 in league action.

Will Munson (Corona, Calif.) put the Bison on the board at 9:35 of the opening frame when he tipped in Cole Ruwe's (Pekin, Ill.) shot from the point on the power play. Zeke Costello (Shelby Township, Mich.) set up the play with a pass to Ruwe from the left circle to earn the second assist.

Stonehill tied it up at 13:03 when Bill Harris deflected in a pass from Brendan O'Brien. O'Brien backhanded a pass from the below the right circle to Harris, who was waiting at the left post to tip the shot in the upper corner for the equalizer.

The Skyhawks took the lead just 10 seconds into the second frame when Frank Amato knocked in a rebound from James Florentino.

Eric Cremer (Chelsea, Mich.) tied it at two-all with a power-play goal at 5:03, placing a slapshot from the top of the right circle past Stonehill netminder Mike Manna after receiving a pass back from JoJo Bojanowski (Washington Township, Mich.).

Stonehill again took the lead on a Billy Ninteau (Litchfield, N.H.) tally at 7:36, but Nichols responded with three-straight goals, including a pair less than a minute apart to retake the lead for good.

Zach Hendrickson (Farmingdale, N.Y.) scored his first collegiate goal to spark the Bison at 10:38. He collected a pass from Costello before firing from the high slot; his shot dribbled through Manna's pads for the equalizer. Ryan Gervais' (Chicago, Ill.) shot from the left post off a two-on-one with Anthony Monte (Chicago, Ill.) snuck past Manna's arm for the lead just 50 seconds later.

Jeff Bieber (Littleton, Colo.) potted a loose puck from the high slot while on the power play after a scrum in front for the game-winner with 4:38 remaining in the second stanza. The tally marked the second with the man advantage for the defenseman this season.

Stonehill got one back as Paul Reissfelder deposited the puck into an open left side of the net after Florentino held up past a defender and faked a shot from the slot. Florentino instead passed across the circle to Reissfelder who was wide open.

Mike Davis (Monroe, Mich) made 14 saves in relief, including a pair when he stonewalled Reissfelder on a breakaway just after replacing starter Keith Fink (Easton, Md.) in the second period. Fink made 11 saves in 27 minutes of action. Manna stopped 31 Nichols shots.

The Bison finished 3-for-5 on the power play, while holding the Skyhawks to one goal in five opportunities.

Nichols is back in action on Monday in a 6:45 p.m. game at Salve Regina. Stonehill travels to Fitchburg State for a 7 p.m. game Tuesday. 

Box Score