Box Score

BURRILLVILLE, R.I. – The second-seeded Nichols College men's ice hockey team ended the 2012-13 campaign with a 16-9-1 record as the squad was upended by fifth-seeded Salve Regina, 3-2, in the ECAC Northeast semifinal game on Wednesday night at Levy Rink. 

Salve Regina sophomore John Scorcia (Hudson, Fla.) notched a goal and an assist while freshman Cameron Gaudet (Burlington, Mass.) scored the game-winner as the Seahawks improved to 10-13-3 on the season and advanced to the ECAC Northeast Ice Hockey Championship game to face top-seeded Wentworth on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at Northeastern's Matthews Arena.
 
Nichols senior Zach Kohn (Delafield, Wis.) recorded a pair of assists for the Bison as he ended his collegiate career tied for second in the record book with Will Munson '11 for career helpers (84). The forward also passed Zeke Costello '10 with his 117th career point to take seventh all-time.
 
After 40 minutes of action, the game was knotted at 2-all with the Seahawks on a full two-minute power play to begin the third. The Bison killed off the penalty and 1:26 later Gaudet deposited a rebound with help from sophomore Michael Naso (Londonderry, N.H.) and junior David Watkins (Natick, Mass.) to put the Seahawks ahead 3-2.  Nichols went on to outshoot the visitors 22-10 in the frame and came up empty on a power play that began at 7:57.  Freshman David Chiokadze (Langhorne, Pa.) made a key stop at the 16:30 mark as he thwarted junior Greg Strootman (Aston, Pa.) to preserve the one goal lead. With 1:38 remaining in the third period, the Bison opted for an extra skater but were unable to capitalize.
 
Senior Danny Greiner (Columbus, Ohio), skating in his 100th game as a Bison, received a pass from Kohn and streaked down the ice and lit the lamp for the 1-0 lead at 15:42 in the first period. Just over three minutes later, Kohn and sophomore Evan Jones (Farmington Hills, Mich.) helped setup a one-timer for Strootman as the hosts claimed the 2-0 advantage. Nichols doubled up the Seahawks 18-9 on shots and successfully killed off a five-minute major.
 
Scorcia took advantage of a blocked shot off the stick of freshman Zakerie Thompson (Rochester, Mich.) to put Salve Regina on the board 9:25 into the middle frame. Junior Alex Barr (West Milford, N.J.) found an opening on the blocker side on a shot from the right circle off a feed from Scorcia to even the game at 2-2 with 8:52 left in the period. Salve Regina took 13 of the 22 shots in the stanza as the Bison had one power play chance.
 
Chiokadze (5-5-1) stopped an eye-popping 47 pucks while first-year Alex Larson (Madison, Ala.) turned aside 29 shots as he ended his inaugural campaign 10-7-1.

The game marked the career finale for Greiner, Kohn, Wil Brown (Hershey, Pa.), Bryan Gill (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) and Ray Furr (Woodbridge, Va.).