BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore forward Will Munson (Corona, Calif.) recorded six points with a pair of goals and four assists to lead the Nichols College men's ice hockey team to a 9-2 ECAC Northeast victory over Wentworth at Matthews Arena Sunday afternoon. The Bison improve to 17-2 overall and 11-0 in league play, setting up a first-place showdown against #15 Curry on Saturday, January 31, in a 5:30 p.m. home game at June R. Levy Rink.

First-year forward Matt Sayer (Lowell, Mass.) and classmate Brett Englebright (Pekin, Ill.) each added a pair of goals, while first-year defenseman Kevin Richardson (Temecula, Calif.) recorded three assists. Senior defenseman Cole Ruwe (Pekin, Ill.) and junior forward Zeke Costello (Shelby Township, Mich.) also picked up two assists each.

The Bison led, 6-1, after the first period and added three more scores in the final frame to account for their largest offensive output in almost exactly a year; Nichols last scored nine goals in a game in a 9-5 home game against Franklin Pierce on Jan. 26, 2008.

The Bison cruised to a 3-0 lead within the first 7:45 of the game, with the first two goals coming within the first 3:31 off the stick of Sayer. He jabbed the puck past Wentworth netminder Justin Mariott just 1:03 into the game after a centering pass from behind the net by Jojo Bojanowski (Washington Township, Michigan.). He followed just over two minutes later by dumping in a big rebound off an initial shot from first-year defenseman Drew Palmer (Chelmsford, Mass.). Munson set up the play by finding Palmer at the top of the right circle.

Nichols notched its first of four power-play goals on the afternoon when Munson hit a one-timer from Richardson at the netfront. Ruwe sent a pass over from the right point to Richardson at the left before the rookie snapped it down to Munson at 7:45.

The Leopards (8-6-1, 5-2-1 ECACNE) picked up their lone goal of the frame on a penalty shot when senior Joey Sides faked a shot before lifting in a backhander at 14:05, while Wentworth was killing off a five-minute major.

The Bison responded with three goals within a three-minute span to close out the period, first when Munson intercepted a Leopards' pass and broke past a Wentworth defender to find first-year forward Dan Styrna (Vancouver, British Columbia) for a two-on-one. Munson slipped the puck across to Styrna at the blueline before the newcomer fired high from the left circle past Mariott's glove for his first Bison goal.

Englebright tipped in a shot from Ruwe on the power play at 18:31 to give Nichols a 5-1 lead after Richardson and Ruwe passed back-and-forth at the blue line at length.

Senior defenseman Jeff Bieber (Littleton, Colo.) capped the period's scoring with a quick shot right in front of the net, connecting with a Ryan Gervais (Chicago, Ill.) snap from behind the net after a deep pass in below the red line by Costello.

The second period saw no scoring, with Wentworth spending more than half the period on the power play, collecting 10 of 17 shots in the frame with the man advantage. First-year netminder Jacon Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) was up to the task, blanking the Leopards, despite losing his stick twice during penalty kill situations.

Munson opened the scoring in the third period with a short-handed goal, roofing a centering pass from Eric Cremer (Chelsea, Mich.) at 2:26 before Wentworth's Alan Dionne got one back for the Leopards at 5:25 with an unassisted score, picking the top right corner from the right circle after pouncing on a turnover in the Bison zone.

Englebright converted an impossible low-angle shot off a pass from Munson amidst a sea of bodies converged around the net while on the power play at 7:57 to make it 8-2 Bison, and Anthony Monte (Chicago, Ill.) picked up a Munson pass as he exited the penalty box for a breakaway goal at 12:42 to cap the game's scoring.

Rinn finished with 31 saves in his third win of the season, while Marriott allowed six goals on 16 shots in the first period before giving way to senior Dean Smith, who made 13 saves in the final 40 minutes.

Nichols finished the night 4-for-8 on the power play, while holding Wentworth scoreless in eight opportunities. Wentworth came into the game with the nation's second best power play and the top penalty kill in the country.

Five senior Bison skaters played in their 100^th career game on the afternoon: Ruwe, Monte, Gervais, Bieber and defenseman Glenn Cacaro (Sioux Falls, S.D.).

Box Score