CANTON, Mass. (2/25/2026) – The No. 5 Nichols College men's ice hockey team delivered a strong road playoff performance on Wednesday night, upsetting No. 4 Curry College by a final score of 4-1 at the Canton Ice House in the first round of the Conference of New England Men's Ice Hockey tournament.
 
With the win, the Bison improves to 11-14-1 (7-12-1 CNE) on the season and will move on to the semifinals, where they will face No. 1 UNE. After tonight's loss, Curry ends their season at 16-9-1 (13-6-1 CNE) and are officially knocked out of the CNE tournament.
 
After a fast-paced opening 13 minutes, Nichols broke through first. Justin Massa capitalized on an opportunity at 13:21 of the first period, causing a turnover by the Colonels before ripping a shot to the top right of the net for his seventh goal of the season to give the Bison a 1-0 lead. Curry answered quickly, however, as Andrew Morton evened the score just 37 seconds later to send the teams into the intermission tied at 1-1.
 
The second period featured strong goaltending, with Nichols' goaltender Ryan Henry turning aside multiple Curry chances to keep the game level. The Bison regained the lead at 13:30 when the reigning CNE Rookie of the Week Gavin Duckworth buried a backhander for his fourth goal of the season at even strength. Liam Boswell earned the assist on a beautiful pass between two defenders on what proved to be the game-winning goal, sending Nichols into the second intermission ahead 2-1.
 
Curry pressed early in the third, but Henry remained steady between the pipes. The Bison extended their lead midway through the period on the power play. After drawing a tripping penalty, Aaron Hamel cashed in at 10:40, finishing a feed from Jeremy Tremblay to make it 3-1. The goal was Hamel's fifth of the year and Nichols' lone power-play conversion in three opportunities. With Curry pulling its goaltender late in regulation, Alexis Trudeau sealed the victory with an empty-net goal at 16:48. Aidan Flynn and Luca Ricci were credited with assists on the insurance goal.
 
Henry was a difference-maker in goal, stopping 42 of 43 shots for a .977 save percentage to earn the win, including 16 saves in both the first and third periods. Nichols was outshot but controlled key faceoffs, winning 30 of 57 draws, led by CJ Zezima's 13 wins on 20 attempts at the faceoff dot. The Bison also delivered a strong defensive effort, recording 16 blocked shots and successfully killing all three Curry power plays. Sophomore defenseman Derek Greer led the Bison in blocked shots on the night with 4.
 
Tonight's game marked Alex Gacek's first CNE playoff win as the head coach of the Bison. The last time the men's ice hockey program won a conference playoff game was back on February 26, 2022, when the Bison defeated No. 3 Salve Regina 3-1 at the St. George's Ice Rink.
 
Nichols will look to carry the momentum from Wednesday's playoff win into the semifinals of the CNE tournament, as they will travel to No. 1 University of New England on Saturday, February 28th, to face off against the Nor'easters to punch a ticket into the CNE Championship game. Puck drop is set for 7 PM in the Harold Alford Forum.