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SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--Sophomore Josh Twietmeyer recorded his first points of the season in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Northeast home opener, but the Western New England University men's hockey team couldn't hold on to an early lead and fell 7-2 to Curry College at Smead Rink on Thursday. The visiting Colonels improve to 2-3 overall while the Golden Bears slip to 1-2-1; both teams are now 1-1 in the ECAC Northeast.

Defenseman Phil Kiss led a balanced Curry attack with a goal and an assist as 13 different Colonels notched at least one point. Braeden Ruud matched Kiss with his scoring totals on the night, and Joe Scarfo, Brian White and Shane Tracy also had a multi-point game with two assists apiece.

Western New England jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first period. Sophomore Dane Genord got the scoring started with his second goal of the season at the 11:04 mark. Twietmeyer won a battle from behind the Curry net and fed a pass to Genord between the circles, where he one-timed a shot past the blocker of goalie Brett Sinclair into the lower right corner of the net. Then 3 minutes and 42 seconds later, Twietmeyer added a power play goal on assists from junior Ryan Taylor and senior captain Brandon Stroud.

Even though Curry outshot WNE 10-9 in the opening stanza, it was the Golden Bears who had the best scoring chances. Sinclair stopped senior assistant captain Michael Darrar and senior Andy Cramer from point-blank range and then junior Will Preston from the point through a screen in front of the goal. Later in the period, junior Chris Lembo hit the post with a backhander that almost put WNE up 3-0.

But Curry tied it up 2-2 in the second period with goals from James Murphy and Dan McGinnis just 71 seconds apart, beginning at the 8:47 mark. Kiss gave the Colonels their first lead--one they wouldn't relinquish--with 2:25 to go.

The Colonels padded to their slim one-goal advantage with four markers in a 4:11 span in the third period. Chris Mason and Jake Heisinger scored power-play goals while Curry was working with a 5-on-3 situation to put the game out of reach.

Sinclair finished with 21 saves. For WNE, senior Tim Carr also had 21 stops and freshman Scott Brown made five saves while playing the final 11:15 in his collegiate debut.

Western New England returns to Smead action on Saturday when it hosts another conference opponent in Suffolk University, with the first puckdrop at 1:45 p.m.