SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (December 10, 2015) - The Western New England University ice hockey team outshot Southern New Hampshire University 33-31, but was unable to break through as the Penmen posted a 3-0 non-conference victory this evening at Smead Arena.
 
The Golden Bears had several solid scoring opportunities in the second period, including junior Tyler Pionk's (Hermantown, Minn.) backhand flip six and a half minutes into the frame that Penmen senior goaltender Dave Letarte (Salem, Mass.) was able to tip over the crossbar. Western New England controlled play for much of the second, outshooting Southern New Hampshire 14-7.
 
The visitors would open the scoring four minutes later, however, capitalizing on a power play as sophomore forward Timothy Baylis (West Haven, Conn.) won a faceoff in the attacking zone before firing a shot past Western New England senior netminder Austin Keiser (Danwoody, Ga.).
 
Keiser finished with 28 saves on the 30 shots that he faced, including 11 each in the first and third periods. Letarte stopped each of the 33 shots that came his way, making 25 saves over the final 40 minutes of action.
 
Southern New Hampshire carried its one-goal edge into the second intermission, before going up 2-0 midway through the third on sophomore defenseman Sean McTiernan's (Grayson, Ga.) fourth goal of the season. Classmate Sam Jenkins (Dartmouth, Mass.) added an empty-netter for the Penmen in the closing seconds to cap the scoring.
 
Junior forward Josh Twietmeyer (Weston, Fla.) put a team-high five shots on goal for Western New England, while freshman defenseman Brian Hurley (Baldwin, N.Y.) had four and Pionk was among a trio of Golden Bears with three.  
 
Western New England (0-10-1, 0-6-0 ECAC Northeast) will be off for the rest of the month before opening its second semester schedule on Wednesday, January 6 with its third straight home game against Framingham State University. Southern New Hampshire (5-8-1, 3-1-1 Northeast-10) also has a lengthy break before hosting Becker College on January 4.