WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (November 17, 2022) – The Western New England men's ice hockey team faced their third straight ranked opponent Thursday night, battling the 14^th ranks Colonels of Curry College. Western New England would hang tight with Curry for the first period and a half before the Colonels pulled away to take a 5-2 victory from Olympia Ice Center. 

Records:

• Western New England: 1-6, 0-5 CCC
• #14 Curry College: 5-1, 4-1 CCC

How it Happened:
Curry got on the board first, scoring on their first shot of the game just 53 seconds into the game when Gage Dill opened the scoring on the night. Timmy Kent and Eelis Laaksonen would pick up assists on the first goal of the night for the Colonels. Western New England would settle into their game and would end up out shooting the 14^th ranked Colonels in the first period 14-10. Western New England grabbed a goal late into the first period after a two on one developed for WNE as Matt Dougherty and Jason Diamond would take on a Curry defender. Dougherty would feed Diamond who converted through the five-hole of Curry's keeper Reid Cooper to get Western New England on the board for the first time in the game. WNE and Curry finished tied at one goal apiece after one. Anthony Aureliano made nine saves for the Golden Bears in the period. 

Curry opened the second period with another early goal to take a 2-1 lead when Eelis Laasonen found the back of the net for the first time in the game, finding the scoresheet for the second time in the game. Gage Dill and Timmy Kent grabbed helpers for the Colonels as all three entered the scoresheet for the second time on the night. As they did in the first period, Western New England would respond with the next goal when Kyle Knight potted the second goal of the game for the Golden Bears. WNE would credit the powerplay goal from Colby Audette and Demitrios Stefanou. From there. The Colonels would take their lead back when Tao Ishizuka scored a goal on an assist from Nolan Dawson to give Curry their lead back with under eight minutes to play in the second period. Curry would add one final goal in the second period, taking their first two goal lead of the game. CC would outshoot WNE 10-9 in the second period. 

Western New England would fail to score in the final period of play. Curry came away with the lone tally, taking a 5-2 lead, which would be the final score of the contest. In the period, Curry would lead in shots 12-7, outshooting WNE 32-30 in the contest. 

Around the Lines:

• WNE went 1/6 on the powerplay, failing to score on five-man advantages. Curry would also fail to score on the PP, going 0/3. 
• Curry scored all five goals via even strength on the night, taking 32 total shots on the night. 
• Jason Diamond picked up his first career goal with Western New England in the win. Matt Dougherty picks up his second assist of the year. 
• GK Anthony Aureliano made 27 saves for WNE in the loss. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The two teams will meet again on Saturday, November 19 at 3:00 pm for a rematch of tonight's game.