BOSTON, Mass. (1/9/2026) - The Nichols College men's ice hockey team traveled to host Wentworth Institute of Technology's Allied Veterans Rink to play the Leopards in their first of two matches this weekend. Following a stellar performance at the Boston Landing Collegiate Invitational, the Bison kept their momentum in the forefront, bringing home a victory against Wentworth, 4-2. 

Following the resounding win for Nichols, their record improves and officially puts them over .500 at 7-6-0 on the season. For games against Conference of New England opponents, the Bison are now 4-4-0. The loss sends the Leopards record down to 3-9-1 for their record, 2-7 for the CNE.

The Bison started their play in the first period extremely well, outshooting Wentworth on goal for 13-7. Nichols also saw more saves on the night than the Leopards' defense from standout freshman CNE Goaltender and Rookie of the Week, Ryan Henry. Henry posted 31 saves in the contest, with Wentworth's goaltender marking 28. A boarding call early in the period at 14:49 on a Wentworth skater paved the way for the first goal of the night, a power-play bout produced a point for CJ Zezima at 13:10, his sixth goal of the season. Assisting the goal were Justin Massa and Luca Ricci, familiar names in the scoring column for this Bison team. A Wentworth equalizer would come later in the period at 3:56, leaving the Bison with little time to in the period to answer, 1-1. Though the answer came with 15 seconds left on the clock, a power-play goal sunk from Tristan Kimmen off of a well-placed puck from Christian Holden and Aaron Hamel, Holden's first assist this season. Nichols headed off the ice up, 2-1.

In the second period, both teams played the offensive and defensive sides of the court well. Although there were several goal-scoring opportunities, the second period wound up scoreless for the Bison and the Leopards. Henry was yet again another contributor to keeping Nichols' lead alive throughout the second, posting 13 saves and defending a power-play early on. The Bison saw the same score with the horn at the end, preparing to defend their advantage in the final period of play.

Wentworth equalized the game a minute into the period at 19:33, an even-strength contest, effectively tying it up at 2-2. Shortly after, Nichols was able to find themselves in the scoring column for the first time since the starting period off a goal from Zach Vandale at 15:34, his second of the season. The score assisted by Massa and Zac Gmerek, his first of the season, put the Bison up at 3-2 with plenty of hockey left, looking to hold Wentworth off from climbing back. From that point, Henry's ten saves helped keep the dream alive, setting up a goal to add to their lead and seal the game at 0:15 from Gavin Duckworth on an empty-net. Duckworth's first of the season, assisted yet again by Ricci and Dylan Ray.

The Bison will return to play Wentworth at home on Saturday, January 10th, at Levy Rink, puck set to drop at 3:40 PM.