Recap by Greg Fitzpatrick

Golden Bears clinch playoff spot behind Beck's four points

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (February 10, 2018) –  The Western New England University ice hockey team secured a spot in the upcoming Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament with the help of five unanswered goals in a 6-2 victory over Becker College on Saturday afternoon at the Olympia Ice Center.

Prior to the start of the contest, Western New England honored its four seniors, Matt Smethurst (Rexford, N.Y.), David DiSchiavi (Etobicoke, Ont.), Zach Stein (Enfield, Conn.) and Matt Audet (Campbell, Calif.) for their contributions to the program over the last four years.

Top Performers
• Junior Steve Beck (Milton, N.Y.) led the Golden Bears with a four-point effort (two goals, two assists). 
• Smethurst recorded a goal and two assists while freshman Nolan Zweep (Abbotsford, B.C.) handed out three assists. 
• Juniors David Kleyman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Matt O'Dea (Orland Park, Ill.) had a goal and an assist apiece.
• Junior goaltender Kevin Gollmer (Flourtown, Penn.) made 22 saves on 24 shots in net. 

• Stephen Wolf (Somersworth, N.H.) and James Wallace (Levittown, Pa.) each scored for the Hawks.
• Trey McMillen (Grapevine, Tex.), Aaron Deady (East Greenwich, R.I.), and Jeffrey Schaeffer (Ambler, Penn.) were all credited with assists, while sophomore goaltender Cody Foster (Saugus, Calif.) finished with 40 saves.

Game Review
It took Becker just 2:30 to start the scoring with a goal from Wolf. Just 32 seconds later, the Golden Bears were able to answer right back with a goal from CJ Totillo (Brooklyn, N.Y.) to tie the contest up. Becker and Western New England had 10 shots each in the first period.

The Hawks also had a strong start to the second period with a goal from Wallace at the 18:17 mark to put the visitors back in front.

Five minutes later, the Golden Bears tied up the game once again with a power play goal from Beck. With 5:43 left in the period, Beck scored his second goal of the game to give Western New England a 3-2 advantage.

The Golden Bears were able to increase their lead with a rebound goal from David Kleyman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) with 2:42 remaining in the second period. Just 1:09 later, Smethurst put one past Foster to make it 5-2 Golden Bears. Western New England outshot the Hawks 17-8 in the second period.  

The Golden Bears tacked on one final goal in the third, as O'Dea recorded a short-handed tally to extend the final margin to four. 

Notes
• Beck's four-point performance marks the seventh time he's recorded three or more points in a game this season.
• Western New England outshot Becker 40-24 and also held a narrow 32-30 advantage in the faceoff circle.
• Kleyman has recorded 11 points in 11 games this season.

Up Next
Western New England (9-13-3, 4-12-2 CCC) has earned the No.8 seed in the CCC playoffs and will take on No. 1 Salve Regina (18-4-2, 13-2-2 CCC) in the quarterfinals next Saturday, February 17 at a time to be determined.