BURRILLVILLE, R.I. (2/7/2026) –  Justin Massa scored all three goals in the third period, including a short-handed game-winner, to lead the Nichols College men's ice hockey team to a 3-2 comeback victory over Western New England on Saturday afternoon at the Levy Rink. Nichols erased a two-goal deficit in the final frame, outscoring the Golden Bears 3-0 over the final 20 minutes to earn the conference win.
 
After the weekend sweep against the Golden Bears, the Bison climb up to 9-12-0 (6-10-0 CNE), while the Western New England slide to 5-17-0 overall, with a record of 3-14-0 in the CNE.
 
Western New England opened the scoring at 14:10 of the first period with a power-play goal from Matthew Dougherty, assisted by Jimmy Mettler and Mathew Fortin, giving the visitors a 1-0 edge. Nichols generated several quality chances and hit the pipe multiple times during the period but was unable to break through before the intermission.
 
The Golden Bears extended their lead midway through the second, as Everest Schneider converted another power-play opportunity at 14:50, again set up by Mettler and Fortin, pushing the score to 2-0. Nichols continued to press offensively, but WNE carried the two-goal advantage into the third.
 
Nichols ignited its comeback early in the third period. At 5:09, Massa put the Bison on the board with an even-strength goal, finishing a feed from Jeremy Tremblay and Aaron Hamel. Just 2:50 later, the Bison continued their takeover with Massa striking again at 7:59, once more converting assists from Tremblay and Hamel to tie the game at 2-2. The decisive moment came at 15:54, when Massa completed the hat trick with a short-handed, unassisted goal, picking up the puck off a Golden Bear's mistake and beating the goaltender to give Nichols its first lead of the game. The goal stood as the game-winner, sealing the 3-2 victory.
 
Freshman goaltender Ryan Henry started for the Bison again, recording 25 saves and the win. Both Hamel and Tremblay recorded two points in the game, making their totals for the weekend three points.
 
The last time the men's ice hockey program had a player score a hat trick was on 1/22/2022, when senior captain Curtis Carlson scored three goals and an assist at Suffolk University.
 
The men's ice hockey program returns home on Friday, February 13th, for a matchup against Curry College. Puck drop is set for 4:40 PM.