HARRISVILLE, R.I. (Feb. 16) – The Western New England College University men's ice hockey team held on to a 2-1 first period lead en route to a 3-2 victory over Nichols in ECAC Northeast action Wednesday night at June Rockwell Levy Rink. With the win, the Golden Bears improve to 7-16-1 overall and 4-9-0 in conference play. Nichols dips to 11-12-1 overall and 5-8-0.

John Kelly put the Golden Bears on the board at 7:42 of the opening frame. Brian Prost won the faceoff in the left circle back to Dan Monahan. Monahan tipped it ahead to Kelly who lifted it high past the glove side of Nichols netminder Dylan Woodring (Rogue River, Ore.) for the one-goal lead.

Nichols answered back less than three minutes later while skating four-on-four when Andrew Letellier (Saco, Maine) tipped in a Wil Brown (Hershey, Pa.) slap shot from the point low past WNEC netminder Eric Sorenson. Kevin Richardson (Temecula, Calif.) fired wide from the opposite point and the rebound was controlled by a Golden Bears defender behind the net. Zach Kohn (Hartland, Wis.) stole the puck and sent it back out to Brown at the left point for Brown to fire and Letellier was waiting at the doorstep to tip it in.

A rebound right out front was poked in by Trent Krueger midway through the frame to give WNEC a 2-1 lead headed into the break. Woodring made the initial save on Krueger's shot from below the right circle, but Prost collected the rebound and slipped it back to Krueger in front for the freshman to poke in.

Kelly had a chance to put the visitors up by two with just under seven minutes left in the period with a breakaway, but Woodring kicked his leg out just in time to thwart a shot attempt on his right side. Nichols ended the period with a 45 second two-man advantage, holding play in the WNEC zone, but only tested Sorenson twice.

Western New England took a two-goal lead early in the third period when Alan Martin took off on a breakaway out of the penalty box before chipping the puck over Woodring's blocker. Cam Napolitan cleared the puck out of the Nichols zone to Krueger, who knocked it over a Bison defenseman's stick to Martin as he exited the box to earn assists.

Nichols closed the gap with a textbook play just prior to the midpoint of the frame, capped off by a one-timer at the net from Andrew Ella (Schomberg, Ontario). Kohn sent a long breakout pass to Will Munson (Corona, Calif.) along the right boards as the senior carried the puck into Golden Bears territory with Ella crashing down the left. Munson threaded the puck through the slot for Ella to snap in at the back post at 9:10.

Nichols pulled Woodring after a time out with 41.4 seconds left in the game, and Ella won the final two draws, but the Bison were unable to capitalize late.

Neither team scored on the power play, combining for an 0-for-9 display. Nichols was outshot, 37-32 in the game despite a 12-7 advantage in the final frame. Woodring finished with 34 saves, while Sorenson stopped 30.

Nichols concludes the regular season Saturday in a 4:40 p.m. home game against Johnson & Wales University and will honor its senior class prior to the game. Western New England hosts Suffolk Saturday at 3:35 p.m. for the Golden Bears' regular season finale.

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