HARRISVILLE, R.I. (Jan. 27) – Junior forward Matt Sayer (Lowell, Mass.) recorded a hat trick and an assist to lead the Nichols College men's ice hockey team to its fourth-straight win, a 7-2 ECAC Northeast victory over visiting Western New England College Wednesday evening at June Rockwell Levy Rink. The Bison improve to 10-6-2 overall and 4-3 in conference action, while the Golden Bears slip to 1-14-1 overall and 1-6 in league play.
Nichols held a 2-0 lead at the first intermission on power-play goals from Sayer and Danny Greiner (Columbus, Ohio). Career assists leader Zeke Costello (Shelby Township, Mich.) passed from the left circle to Bryan Gill (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) at the right point. Gill quickly moved the puck down to Sayer at the bottom of the right circle for the junior to knock the puck past WNEC goaltender T.J. Fatse at 10:35.
Less than five minutes later while on a two-man advantage, Drew Palmer (Chelmsford, Mass.) received the puck off the faceoff to the right of Fatse, and passed down to Zach Kohn (Hartland, Wis.) in the corner. Kohn skated it out in front of the net and slipped it across the crease where Greiner slapped it into the net at 14:40.
The Bison potted a pair of goals before the three-minute mark of the second period, but two from the visitors later in the frame cut Nichols' lead back to two by the end of the stanza. Costello opened the scoring just 1:02 into the second after picking up a drop pass from Sayer, skating around behind the net and sending in a slow shot from the left circle. Josh Moles (Fort Wayne, Ind.) one-timed a pass from Greiner a minute and a half later for the four-goal advantage.
The Golden Bears had their first chance to get on the board with a penalty shot at 6:26 of the middle frame, but Nichols netminder Ryan Casey (Pelham, N.H.) stood tall to deny Vinny Weyel's (North Haven, Conn.) attempt.
Drew Vrolyk stole the puck from a Nichols defender to create an odd-man rush which set up Western New England's first strike at 7:06 of the second. He passed to Mike Kaselouskas on the far side, and the sophomore center brought it in the rest of the way before drawing the goalie left and sliding the puck in on the right side.
Weyel did get past Casey when he redirected a slapshot from Joe Trimboli at the right point to give the Golden Bears their second goal at 13:31. While on the power play, Trimboli wound up from the blue line, and Weyel got his stick on it low in the right circle, sending the puck bouncing over the shoulder of Casey.
Sayer potted two of the Bison's three goals in the final frame, starting by one-timing a rebound off a wrister from J.D. Gordon (Belchertown, Mass.) at 6:09. Bobby Gauthier (Warwick, R.I.) followed with his first career goal at 11:17, before Costello connected with Sayer for the junior's third tally, a five-hole maneuver at 12:40.
Casey improved to 5-4-2 with 22 saves for the Bison, while Fatse took the loss with 41 saves through the first 52 minutes. Junior Justin Richards stopped both shots he faced over the remainder of the game.
The Bison finished 2-for-4 on the power play while holding the Golden Bears to just one goal in 10 power play opportunities.
Nichols continues ECAC Northeast action with a 3:30 p.m. home game against Salve Regina Saturday. Western New England travels to Wentworth Saturday for a 2 p.m. conference game.
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