HARRISVILLE, R.I. – Junior Colin Brennan (Chester, N.J.) turned aside all 35 shots he faced for his first collegiate shutout in Nichols College's 4-0 win over Wentworth in the inaugural Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's ice hockey contest for both programs Thursday evening at Levy Rink.
 
Freshman Nicholas Mangone (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) broke a scoreless tie with his first collegiate goal at 11:48 of the third period as he took a pass from sophomore Blake Kelley (Woodbury, Minn.) and ripped a shot into the top of the net.
 
Less than four minutes later, the Bison struck for two goals in 42 seconds to extend their lead to 3-0. Sophomore Matthew Menta (Lime, Pa.) was awarded a penalty shot and beat junior goalie Ryan Hubbard (West Roxbury, Mass.) with a backhand deke through the legs. When play resumed, freshman Hogan Davidson (Duluth, Minn.) potted his first collegiate goal with the apple going to classmate Jeffery Baker (Columbia, Md.). Baker added his second empty-netter in as many games with 1:49 to go with the assist going to Brennan – his second in two games.
 
The Leopards outshot the Bison 16-7 in the first and held a 26-19 edge in shots through the first 40 minutes. Brennan stopped a pair of breakaways during that span before sophomore Matthew Kennedy (Mount Pearl, N.L.) was awarded a penalty shot just over five minutes into the third. He beat Brennan glove-side, but his shot rang off the right post.
 
Baker finished the game with a goal and two assists as the Bison went 1-for-4 on the PP while killing off four WIT opportunities with the man advantage. Hubbard finished the evening with 29 saves.
 
All-Time Series
This evening's contest marked the 38th all-time meeting between Nichols and Wentworth. The Bison have won seven of the last eight and now lead the series, 19-18-1.
 
Quotes
"I don't think we really had our legs in the first period. We didn't come to play right off the bat. We started to find it a little in the second period and we showed what we could do in the third period. I thought our freshmen led the charge, guys like (Jeffery) Baker and (Nicholas) Mangone and Hogan (Davidson). They were the catalysts." –Nichols head coach Parker Burgess
 
"We shook up the lines a little in the third. It wasn't necessarily something that one guy was doing, but sometimes you just shake them up and see if some chemistry clicks. It seemed to click with three or four different lines and I thought that was when we played our best hockey." –Burgess, on the team's third period
 
Next Games
Nichols (2-0-0, 1-0-0 CCC) – Saturday, November 5 vs Endicott, 7:10 p.m.
Wentworth (0-3-0, 0-1-0 CCC) – Saturday, November 5 vs Curry, 3:00 p.m.