Box Score

HARRISVILLE, R.I. – Junior Frank Butler (East Haven, Conn.) picked up his second hat trick in less than 24 hours as the Nichols College men's ice hockey team closed the regular season with an 8-3 win over Western New England Sunday afternoon in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Northeast action at Levy Rink.

Senior Mike O'Brien (Raynham, Mass.), junior Barry O'Neil (Falmouth, Mass.), and freshman Cody Rodgers (Austin, Texas) each scored their first goal of the season for the Bison, who improved to 19-3-3 (11-1-2 ECAC Northeast) on the season.

Senior Joe Sposit (Cleveland, Ohio) and freshman Scott Cuthrell (Waterford, Mich.) each dished out three assists, junior Tyler Beasley (Indianapolis, Ind.) had a pair of helpers, and senior Sean Fleming (Easthampton, N.J.) recorded a goal and two assists for NC.

Junior Patrick Salkind (Springfield, Va.) got the start between the pipes and turned aside 17 shots to earn his third win of the season. Freshman Colin Brennan (Chester, N.J.) and senior David Lamb (Edina, Mich.) combined to play the final 20 minutes and make 13 saves.

Senior Andy Cramer (New Wilmington, Pa.), junior Chris Lembo (Southington, Conn.), and sophomore Josh Twietmeyer (Everett, Wash.) all scored for the Golden Bears (5-15-3, 5-8-0 ECAC Northeast) in a span of 3:17 of the second period. Freshman Scott Brown (Sewickley, Pa.) made 41 saves in defeat.

The Bison led 3-0 after one period of play and 4-0 on Rodgers' goal 6:37 into the second period. WNE rallied for three-straight to cut its deficit to 4-3 before markers from Butler at 17:11 and Fleming at 19:54 made it 6-3 after two periods. Butler's goals at 8:05 and 12:37 of the third pushed his team-leading total to 19 and sealed the win.

Nichols will host an ECAC Northeast Semifinal contest on Wednesday, March 4 against a team and at a time to be determined. The Golden Bears play Tuesday at Suffolk at 5 p.m.