Nichols College Athletics

PAWTUCKET, R.I. (11/6/2026) - The Nichols College men's ice hockey team rallied to a 4-3 win in overtime against the Johnson & Wales University Wildcats (JWU) this evening, sealing a win in their Conference of New England (CNE) opener.

Following the win, the Bison jump to 2-1-0 on the season overall, starting 1-0 for CNE play. JWU falls to 2-1-0 in their campaign, 0-1-0 in conference competitions. 

Nichols opened the scoring at 10:30 of the first period when sophomore Justin Massa found the back of the net off assists from Zack Kent and Tristan Kimmen. Johnson & Wales answered at 13:49 with a power-play goal from Jack Gerne to send the teams into the first intermission tied, 1-1.

The Wildcats took their first lead of the night at 4:22 of the second period with another power-play tally, this time from Zachary Brady. Nichols responded at 13:42 when Ryan Austin buried a feed from Wyatt Teubert and Zach Vandale to even the contest at 2-2 heading into the third period.

Nichols regained the lead at 8:03 of the third when Kimmen scored his first goal of the evening on the power play. Luca Ricci and Raphael Tellier collected assists on the go-ahead tally. Johnson & Wales answered at 14:46 with a power-play goal from Harout Torosian, forcing overtime with the score knotted at 3-3.

In the extra session, Kimmen completed his two-goal performance just 2:29 into overtime, taking a pass from Austin and Teubert and beating the Johnson & Wales netminder to secure the 4-3 victory for the Bison.

Kimmen led the Nichols offense with two goals and an assist, recording a team-high five points on the evening. Austin finished with a goal and an assist, while Massa added a goal. Teubert contributed two assists, while Kent, Vandale, Ricci, and Tellier each added an assist.

Freshman goaltender Cooper Flemming turned aside 25 shots in 62:29 of action. Nichols generated 48 shots on goal compared to 28 for Johnson & Wales and held a 44-33 advantage in faceoffs.

The Bison finished 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Wildcats converted three of their six opportunities with the man advantage.

Nichols returns to action Saturday, November 7, when it hosts Johnson & Wales University in the second game of the home-and-home CNE series. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:40 PM.