Box Score
Scoring Summary
BOSTON, Mass. – A strong effort came up just short as fourth-seeded Western New England dropped a 5-3 decision to top-seeded Wentworth Wednesday night (Feb. 29) in a semifinal round game of the ECAC Northeast Men's Hockey Tournament at Matthews Arena.
The Leopards, who have won nine straight games, scored twice in the final 5:40 to hold off the Golden Bears who rallied from 3-0 deficit to tie the contest with eight minutes to play.
Sophomore forward
Fred Gervasi (Mississauga, ON) scored two goals for Wentworth, including a key insurance goal with 1:58 to play.
The Leopards started strong with three goals in the opening period starting with a shot by sophomore forward
Patrick Rice (West Des Moines, IA) just 3:06 into the game. Freshman forward
Kevin Crowe (Galloway, NJ) added a goal at the 10:20 mark and Gervasi scored at 14:27 to open up a big lead.
Western New England got on the board when freshman forward
Brandon Stroud (Clarksville, IN) netted his 12th goal of the season at 17:21 with assists from sophomore forward
Trent Krueger (White Bear Lake, MN) and sophomore defenseman
Cam Napolitan (East Longmeadow, MA).
The Golden Bears pulled within one when Krueger fired in his 12th goal of the year at 10:27 of the second period. Stroud and freshman forward
Matt Dore (Shelburne, MA) had the assists.
Western New England tied the contest on a goal by sophomore forward
Dan Monahan (Monroe, NJ) (his 12th of the season) at 12:00 of the third stanza. The assists went to sophomore defensemen
Eric Gethers (Ashburn, VA) and
Rance Vukovic (Lansdale, PA).
Wentworth quickly came back taking the lead for good on the game-winner by freshman forward
Mike Domsodi (Kirkland, QC) at 14:20. Gervasi added his second goal a little less than four minutes later to cement the win.
The Golden Bears had two shots on goal after pulling freshman goalie T
im Carr (Pine Bush, NY) with 1:05 left in regulation, but couldn't score.
Carr settled down after a shaky start and compiled 32 saves while freshman
Alex Peck (Kirkland, QC) stopped 29 shots for the Leopards.
Senior forward
Mike Pallino (Grosse Pointe Shores, MI) and sophomore forward
Cameron Gibson (Valencia, CA) each contributed two assists for the hosts.
Wentworth (19-6-1) will host second-seeded Curry (a 7-2 winner over third-seeded Nichols) in the ECAC Northeast championship game on Saturday (March 3).
Western New England ends its best season in 18 years with a fine 14-12-1 record, which was a six-win improvement from last year.
Contact: Ken Cerino, Western New England athletic communications director (413) 782-1227
kcerino@wne.edu
