Recap
Sophomore J.B. Baker scored a pair of goals in Nichols College's 5-3 win over No. 6 University of New England Saturday night in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's ice hockey action at Harold Alfond Forum.
 
Sophomore Petr Miko added an empty-net goal and two assists, giving him his second three-point game in the last month; he also picked up a goal and two assists against Saint Michael's on January 11. The win moves the Bison to 8-11-2 on the season (5-7-1 CCC) and they finished the season series against the Nor'easters 1-0-1. Junior Filip Virgili also scored twice for Nichols and is up to eight goals and a career-high 17 points in 2019-20.

The Bison were outshot 20-4 in the first period and managed to kill off a five-minute spearing major accessed to senior captain Vincent Crivello to get to the locker room with a scoreless tie after 20 minutes. In the second, UNE grabbed a 2-0 lead before senior Ryan Burr was given a five-minute major for boarding. Baker struck for a pair of goals just 2:09 apart with the man advantage to tie the game before Virgili's seventh of the season gave the Bison a 3-2 lead seconds before the second intermission.

Less than nine minutes into the third, Virgili's second goal of the night pushed the lead to 4-2. Following a late tally by junior Chris Jones with the netminder off the ice, Miko found the empty net to secure the win.
 
Junior Ben Churchfield made 35 saves for the Nor'easters (14-4-3, 10-2-2 CCC). Sophomore Matt Efros turned aside 39 shots to improve to 6-3-0.
 
Three things you need to know...
             -Tonight's contest marked the 11th all-time meeting between Nichols College and the University of New England. The Bison took three of four points from the Nor'easters this weekend and the series now stands at 4-4-2.
            -Nichols has now earned at least one point in nine consecutive outings (7-0-2). Their last defeat came over a month ago against Saint John's in overtime (January 5, 2020).
            -The two-goal game was the first for Baker since collecting five points (2-3-5) in a 6-1 win over Endicott on January 19, 2018.
 
Quote
"You know, there was a point this season when things weren't going so well for us. A lot (of people) might have counted us out. I heard a lot of people saying, 'What's wrong with Nichols?' But I truly believe in the character of these boys and our leaders carried us through. All of the credit goes to our student-athletes and their resiliency and love for one another. I'm so damn proud of them and we aren't done yet." -Nichols head coach Parker Burgess
 
Next game
Thursday, February 13 @ Becker, 7:00 p.m.