Box Score

BURRILLVILLE, R.I. – First-year Alex Larson (Madison, Ala.) recorded his second shutout of the season in a 27 save effort as the Nichols College men's ice hockey team defeated Johnson & Wales, 3-0, in an ECAC Northeast matchup on Wednesday night at Levy Rink. With the win, Nichols extends its unbeaten streak to six games and improves to 15-7-1 on the year and 8-3-1 in the conference. The Wildcats slip to 8-14-1 on the season and 4-7-1 in the ECAC Northeast.
 
Larson became the first Bison backstop since Keith Fink '09 to record a pair of shutouts in a season. Fink blanked Becker and Western New England during the 2008-09 ECAC Northeast Championship season.
 
Nichols took a 1-0 lead midway through the first period on a sequence that began with junior Josh DeLoach (Tampa, Fla.) taking a shot from the blue line. Sophomore Joe Sposit (Cleveland, Ohio) put a stick on the rebound and first-year Frank Butler (East Haven, Conn.) finished off the play for his 10th goal of the season at 11:11. For the frame, Nichols outshot the Wildcats 17-12 and each team had a power play chance.
 
With 4:15 left in the second period, Johnson & Wales senior Trevor Jewell (Muskegon, Mich.) had a great chance to even the game at 1-all but his shot caromed off the inside of the crossbar. The middle frame ended in a stalemate as the Bison took 18 of the 24 shots in the frame and went 0-for-3 with extra personnel. The Wildcats came up empty on a pair of opportunities of their own.
 
First-year Tyler Beasley (Indianapolis, Ind.) struck early in the third as he delivered his 13th goal of the season following a faceoff taken by Butler at 1:07. Later in the game, senior Danny Greiner (Columbus, Ohio) potted an empty netter with 67 ticks left on the scoreboard off a dish by Sposit.
 
Larson improved to 9-5-1 as Wildcat senior Matt Cooper (Perrysburg, Ohio) slipped to 8-12-1 despite stopping 47 of the 49 shots he faced.
 
Nichols will honor its five seniors prior to Saturday's 4:40 p.m. game against Western New England. Johnson & Wales hosts Curry at 7:45 p.m. on Saturday night.