MILTON, Mass. (February 19, 2022) – The Western New England men's ice hockey team dropped their final road contest of the 2022 regular season by a final score of 6-2.

Records:

• Western New England: 4-19-2 (2-18-1 CCC)
• Curry College: 15-8-2 (13-7-1 CCC)

How it Happened:

Curry got off to a quick start after they were able to capitalize on a powerplay chance at the 2:04 mark of the first period. Nolan Zweep was whistled with a tripping penalty and Timmy Kent would send the Colonels into a 1-0 lead on assist from Vilhelm Peltonen and Kalle Sundell, putting Curry at a quick advantage. WNE would come away with just five shots on goal in the first period, unable to find the back of the net. Curry came through with 17 shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes, with Colten Lancaster coming away with 14 saves as Curry would be able to find the back of the net twice in 1:35 to take a 3-0 lead into the first period intermission. Daniel Eruzione would find his first goal of the season in the team's last home game of the regular season while Timmy Kent scored his second goal of the afternoon at the 19:14 mark. 

The Golden Bears would not have any luck in the second period as the puck would bounce in the way of Curry as they would collect their fourth goal of the afternoon in the opening minutes of the second period to go ahead 4-0 over Western New England. Arty Kooppass would grab the fourth tally of the afternoon for Curry at the 3:07 mark into the second period. The Golden Bears would quickly fight back in the period as less than a minute later, WNE would celebrate their first goal of the afternoon. Sam Mitchell would take a pass from Nolan Zweep and fire the puck past Curry goaltender Reid Cooper to cut Curry lead back to three goals. Billy Hefferle would collect the secondary assist from WNE on the Mitchell tally. Mitchell would come away with his 7^th goal of the season, 15^th point overall, for Western New England's first goal of the afternoon. The Golden Bears would catch fire and grab their second goal in 2:18 when Connor Geshan found the back of the net for Western New England on an assist from Shane Miller to give Western New England their second goal of the afternoon, putting the score at 4-2 in favor of the Colonels. The period would close with the 4-2 score as Western New England would take 11 shots on goal in the period, as Reid Cooper came away with nine saves. Lancaster would come away with 12 saves on 13 shots on goal in the period by the Colonels. 

Western New England would be unable to come away with the momentum they had in the second period and bring that into the third period as the Colonels would grab a powerplay goal at the 5:25 mark of the period to re-take their three goal lead. Timmy Kent would collect a hat trick on the goal assisted by Nicholas Favaro and Kalle Sundell to give Curry a 5-2 lead. At the 12:26 mark Greg Barnych would find twine for the final goal of the game for either side on assists from Eetu Selanne and Arty Koppass to put Curry ahead by four goals again. Western New England came away with just seven shots on the period, falling to the Colonels for the third time this season by a final score of 6-2. 

Inside the Crease:

• In their final game of the regular season, Western New England collected 23 shots on goal while surrendering 44 shots to Curry. The Colonels went 2-3 on the powerplay while Western New England went 0-4. 
• Colten Lancaster made 38 saves on 44 shots on goal in the losing effort. Lancaster finishes the regular season with 537 saves in 865:27 played on the nice, making 15 starts and 17 appearances. Lancaster finishes the regular season with a career best in GAA and save percentage. 
• Sam Mitchell collected his 7^th goal of the season, tied for third on the team with teammate Connor Geshan who also potted his 7^th of the year this afternoon. 
• Points leader Shane Miller collected an assist on the afternoon, finishing with four goals and 15 assists, 19 total points. 
• The Golden Bears have dropped nine in a row, including all seven games this month. 

Up Next on the Schedule: 

• WNE will travel to the University of New England on Saturday, February 26 for a CCC quarterfinal match with the Nor'easters. WNE will come in as the #8 seed, while they face the top contender in the CCC at the #1 seed. Puck drop has yet to be determined. 
• Curry College will enter the CCC playoffs as the #4 seed, with an opponent to be determined later tonight between Suffolk University and Nichols College as the #5 seed.