Golden Bears overcome late deficit before Hawks score three unanswered goals to secure win

MARLBORO, Mass. (December 1, 2016) – Western New England University and Becker College combined to score five goals over the final four minutes of regulation before the Hawks came away with a 5-4 win in overtime this evening in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) ice hockey action at the New England Sports Center.

Western New England, which trailed 2-1 late in the third period, scored three goals in a span of 1:07 to take a 4-2 lead with less than three minutes remaining. The Hawks rallied to tie the contest with two goals over the final 1:30 of regulation to force overtime, before capping their comeback with the game-winning tally 1:48 into the extra period.

Top Performers
• Senior captain Josh Twietmeyer (Weston, Fla.) and sophomore forwards Tyler Hines (North Haven, Conn.) and Steve Beck (Milton, N.Y.) all scored during Western New England's three-goal surge late in the third period, while sophomore defenseman Connor Graham (Norfolk, Mass.) got the Golden Bears on the board with his first goal of the season with 1:35 left in the second period.
• Junior Matt Smethurst (Rexford, N.Y.) and sophomore David Kleyman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) recorded two assists each.

• Sophomore forward Brandon Morgan (Rochester, N.Y.) fueled Becker's comeback, scoring the game-tying goal with just 25 seconds remaining in regulation before tallying the game-winner in overtime.  

Game Review
• Freshman Kevin Morello (Monroe Township, N.J.) and junior MacGregor Howey (Grosse Ile, Mich.) both found the back of the net in the first period as the Hawks opened up a 2-0 lead.
• Graham cut Western New England's deficit in half at the 18:25 mark of the second period with the help of assists from Smethurst and Kleyman.
• That same duo set Twietmeyer up for the game-tying goal with four minutes left in regulation, while Hines made it 3-2 just 19 seconds later and Beck scored on a breakaway with 2:53 remaining to extend the margin to two.
• Becker put together a late rally, however, pulling back to within one (4-3) on a power play goal by senior Connor Merrick (Manchester, N.H.) with 1:30 left before riding Morgan's late heroics to an overtime victory.

Notes
• The loss snaps Western New England's three-game winning streak, while Becker's win ends the team's seven-game losing streak.
• The Hawks outshot the Golden Bears 39-27 and held a 40-33 advantage in the faceoff circle.
• Western New England sophomore goaltender Kevin Gollmer (Flourtown, Pa.) made 34 saves, while Becker senior Tyler Stepke (Mars, Pa.) finished with 23. 

Up Next
Western New England (4-5-1, 2-4-1 CCC) will look to bounce back on Saturday at Endicott, while Becker (3-8, 3-4 CCC) travels to Boston to face Wentworth.