Box Score WINCHENDON, Mass. – Junior
Alex Larson (Madison, Ala.) stopped all 28 shots he faced and
Francesco Posillico (Massapequa, N.Y.) scored the only goal of the game as the Nichols College men's ice hockey team opened the 2014-15 campaign with a 1-0 win at non-conference foe Franklin Pierce Saturday night.
The shutout was the fourth of Larson's career as the Bison (1-0-0) improved to 8-0-2 in their last 10 openers, winning the last three. Nichols is now 17-1-1 all-time against the Ravens (0-2-0) and has outscored them 11-0 over the last 120 minutes of action.
Posillico potted his first goal for the defending Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Northeast champions at 12:21 of the second period with the man advantage. Sophomore
Sean Fleming (Easthampton, N.J.) corralled the puck along the left wing boards and slid a pass to senior
Chris Gularte (Salinas, Calif.) at the point. Gularte fed Posillico at the top of the right circle, and the transfer snapped a shot past junior goaltender Kyle Moran (Marshfield, Mass.).
Larson stopped 21 shots over the final two periods to preserve the win. Gularte took eight of the Bison's 46 shots while Fleming and freshman
Kevin Chilton (Oak Park, Calif.) were each credited with five shots.
Moran finished with 45 saves.
Nichols returns to action on Tuesday with an 8:10 p.m. contest against Suffolk at Levy Rink. The Ravens host Assumption next Saturday at 7 p.m.
