HARRISVILLE, R.I. – Senior Frank Butler (East Haven, Conn.) recorded a goal and an assist and classmate Alex Larson (Madison, Ala.) picked up his first shutout of the season as Nichols College scored a 5-0 win over Becker College Saturday Night in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Northeast Quarterfinal round at Levy Rink.

Junior Sean Swansen (Salem, N.H.) and sophomore Scott Cuthrell (Waterford, Mich.) also tallied a goal and an assists each as the Bison (17-9-0) – seeded second in the conference tournament – advance to play No. 3 Salve Regina in a rematch of last year's championship contest. Senior Paul Prescott (Oakdale, Minn.) collected two assists for Nichols, which improved to 3-2 in five career playoff meetings with the Hawks (10-15-1).

"This is as good of an effort as we've had the second half of the season," said Nichols head coach Parker Burgess. "We were making plays and playing with confidence. That was the game plan coming in. We wanted to be aggressive and not let them dictate the pace of play. We wanted to come out swinging tonight and I thought we did that."

Butler opened the scoring at 6:59 when he took a pass from Prescott and beat Becker junior netminder Tyler Skepke (Mars, Pa.) over the right shoulder. Freshman Ben Campbell (Duluth, Minn.) started the play with a wrap-around attempt at the right post and picked up the second assist. Swansen's ninth of the season less than 10 minutes later came on a great individual effort. He broke down the right wing boards and drove the net, letting go of a wrister from in close that snuck through Skepke at 16:54.

"Our team is really good when we get one first. Once we get ahead, we seem to roll pretty well," explained Burgess. "I felt it was important for us to get the second one as well. Sometimes, we get a one-goal lead and take our foot off of the gas. Tonight, we continued to push, which was nice to see. Scott Cuthrell had some big blocks for us on the PK in the third to help preserve the shutout."

Less than one minute into the second period, Larson made his best save of the afternoon on Becker sophomore James Wallace (Levittown, Pa.) to keep the score 2-0. The Hawks broke in 2-on-1 and sophomore Nikolas Nasby (Newburg, Ore.) ripped a shot from the right circle that Larson kicked out. Wallace grabbed the rebound and fired a shot from the left circle that Larson slid across and kicked out with his right pad.

Minutes later, Cuthrell scored the only goal of the second period to push the Nichols lead to 3-0. Freshman Matthew Menta (Lima, Pa.) started the play with a feed to Swansen. Cuthrell received the puck from Swansen, skated around a Becker defenseman, and let go of a shot that snuck through the legs of Skepke at 2:42.

Kelley's unassisted marker 2:00 into the third made it 4-0 before Beasley's 14th of the season at 8:52 closed the scoring. He drove to the net and Prescott's pass from the left wing boards went off of Beasley and into the net. Butler notched the second apple, giving him 98 career points in 98 games.

Larson, meanwhile, stopped all 20 shots he faced to earn his eighth career shutout and 15th win of the season. "We played a lot of one-goal games this year after getting a lot of shutouts last year," said Larson. "It was a long time coming, but to do it in the playoffs against Becker was special. They're one of our biggest rivals."

Skepke finished with 29 saves before being lifted following Beasley's goal. Nichols finished the game outshooting the Hawks 35-20.

Looking ahead to the semifinals, the Bison defeated the Seahawks in both meetings this season, registering a 5-2 win in Portsmouth, R.I. on November 7 before a come-from-behind 7-6 triumph at Levy Rink in January. "They knocked us out my freshman year and then we saw them again in the championship last year," said Larson. "They're a good team. We know they like to run-and-gun, but if we are able to replicate tonight's effort, we'll be able to counter pretty well."