Box Score

HARRISVILLE, R.I. – Junior Brett Jackson (Larchmont, N.Y.) scored a pair of goals as the Nichols College men's ice hockey team raced out to a 4-0 lead en route to a 5-3 win over Johnson & Wales (RI) University in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Northeast action Wednesday night at Levy Rink.

Jackson now has 13 points in his last 11 games (6-7-12) while sophomore Sean Fleming (Easthampton, N.J.) registered a goal and an assist as the Bison moved to 16-6-2 (9-3-1 ECAC Northeast) on the season. Fleming now has 20 points in his last 11 games (7-13-20). Nichols has won four of its last five games heading into Saturday's regular season finale against Western New England.

Sophomore Cody Sarmiento (Sarasota, Fla.) scored a pair of goals for the Wildcats (16-6-1, 6-5-1 ECAC Northeast), who have one win in their last four (1-2-1). Freshman Joey Ballmer (Kalamazoo, Mich.) entered the game with a 1.87 goals against average (GAA) but allowed four goals on his first 21 shots and finished the evening with 30 saves. His counterpart, sophomore Alex Larson (Madison, Ala.), made 39 saves to earn his 13th win of the season.

The Bison scored two goals in a span of 1:10 in the opening 3:50 of the first period to move in front 2-0. Fleming scored his 11th goal of the season at 2:00 when he beat Ballmer with a backhand deke through the legs, then Jackson went forehand shelf on Ballmer to double the lead. The first period closed with Nichols ahead 17-15 in shots.

In the second, Sposit broke in 2-on-1 with sophomore Tyler Beasley (Indianapolis, Ind.) and wristed a shot through the legs of Ballmer at 3:49. Later in the stanza, freshman Mike Weaver (Wakefield, Mass.) sent a pass to graduate student Ray Furr (Woodbridge, Va.), whose shot was blocked. Freshman Sean Swansen (Salem, N.H.) collected the rebound and squeezed a shot between the right post and left pad of Ballmer to make it 4-0 at 9:29 of the second. The assist was the first point of the season for Furr.

Sarmiento scored his 11th and 12th goals of the season 1:02 apart in the second to slice the JWU deficit in half. He potted his first goal at even strength before one-timing a pass from freshman Michael Mazzotta (Mars, Pa.) past Larson from the right circle on the PP at 15:14. Just 2:56 into the third, Mackin beat Larson with a wrist shot – his fifth goal of the season – to make it a one-goal game. The Bison sealed a season-sweep of the Wildcats when Jackson took a feed from junior Paul Prescott (Oakdale, Minn.) and beat Ballmer high to the blocker side with 1:24 remaining.

"I thought we played great early on. We got up 4-0, which is definitely the start we were looking for," said Nichols head coach Kevin Swallow. "Then, we let them crawl right back into the game. We need to play a full 60 minutes if we're going to win the conference. They didn't give up. They're a hard-working team and they kept coming. I thought they took it to us in the second half of the game. They have a good goalie and are deep up front. They're one of the better teams in the conference, no question."

The Wildcats outshot the Bison 27-18 over the final 40 minutes of action and finished the night 1-for-6 with the extra skater. Nichols failed to convert on four PP chances.

Nichols and the Golden Bears face-off at 4:40 p.m. on Saturday. Johnson & Wales play at Salve Regina Sunday at 4:35 p.m.