O'Dea scores team-leading ninth goal of the season

HARRISVILLE, R.I. (January 18, 2019) – The Nichols College ice hockey team opened up a 4-0 lead on its way to a 6-3 win over Western New England University on Friday night in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Levy Rink.

Top Performers
Senior Matt O'Dea (Orland Park, Ill.) and sophomores Anthony Frati (Churchville, N.Y.) and Ryan Price (Brick, N.J.) provided the offense for Western New England with one goal each.

Nichols utilized a balanced attack with six different goal scorers on the night. Senior Matthew Menta (Lima, Pa.) was the lone Bison to post a multi-point effort as he recorded one goal and one assist.

Game Review
Nichols got the scoring started just 2:27 into the contest when freshman defenseman Lucas Andersson (Stockholm, Sweden) found the back of the net to make it 1-0.

The Bison doubled their advantage at the 11:08 mark on a goal by junior J.B. Baker (Columbia, Md.) and took a 2-0 lead into first intermission.

Another Nichols goal early in the second period (2:46) courtesy of sophomore Nate Foster (West Chazy, N.Y.) made it 3-0, before the Bison claimed a 4-0 cushion less than five minutes later (7:37) when Menta buried a short-handed goal.

Western New England broke through with 8:37 left in the middle frame, as O'Dea tallied his team-leading ninth goal of the season with assists from senior Steve Beck (Milton, N.Y.) and junior Corey Kennedy (Clemmons, N.C.).

The Golden Bears outscored the Bison 2-1 in the third period and pulled to within three goals, but they were unable to overcome the deficit as Nichols held on for the conference win.

Notes
• Kennedy posted a 10-for-17 effort in the faceoff circle as the Golden Bears held a 29-24 advantage over the Bison.
• Western New England junior goaltender Baylee Johns (Woodstock, Conn.) stopped both of the shots he faced in almost 17 minutes of reserve duty.

Up Next
These two teams will be right back in action tomorrow as Nichols (9-7-1, 7-2 CCC) visits West Springfield to face Western New England (5-12, 0-9 CCC) at the Olympia Ice Center at 4:20 p.m.