Springfield, Mass. (January 5, 2024) - The Golden Bears hosted SUNY Morrisville on Friday night at the Olympia Ice Center in their first game back from break. Both teams combined for 11 goals in this first game back for the Golden Bears. The Golden Bears scored two in the first, two in the second, and three in the third period of play. The Mustangs scored two in the second and two in the third. Everest Schneider and Nolan Dawson led the Golden Bears with two goals each. The Golden Bears won the game 7-4.

• Western New England: 3-8-2 (1-5-2)
• SUNY Morrisville: 3-12-0 (1-7-0)

How it Happened:

The teams lined up with Anthony Aureliano and Grant Linville in net for the Golden Bears and Mustangs, respectively. Cameron Clark won the opening faceoff for the Mustangs, and the opening period of play started. The Mustangs had two early shots that Aureliano saved. Then, the Golden Bears would go on a run of shots. The next five shots were from the Golden Bears, with Linville making each save. After some back-and-forth action, the Golden Bears would break through for the opening goal of the night. It all started with a save by Aureliano. The save ricocheted past a Mustang player and to Kyle Knight, who skated down the right side of the ice and sent a pass across the ice to Everest Schneider, who steadied the puck and calmly flicked it past the goalie. The score was 1-0, with the Golden Bears leading. SUNY Morrisville would respond with seven of the next nine shots on goal. Aureliano kept making big saves and keeping the Golden Bears in the lead. After the final shot from the Mustangs on that run, they were called for a penalty, and the Golden Bears went on the power play. The Golden Bears found their rhythm on the power play and sent five shots on goal during it. The fifth shot would end the power play with a goal. Off of the faceoff, the puck found Jake Mendeszoon, who pushed the puck along to Rais Francis. Francis skated with the puck for a few seconds and fired a shot on net. Linville made the save. However, the puck would fall to Sam Mitchell, who pushed home the second goal of the night for the Golden Bears with 6:23 remaining in the first. After a few minutes of back-and-forth action, the Mustangs went on the power play. They had five shots during their power play, and Aureliano made three saves on the three shots that made it to the net. The Mustangs got one more shot on goal before the end of the period, and after an Aureliano save, the opening period of play concluded with the Golden Bears leading by two. The Mustangs would lead in shots on goal during the first period of play. The stats had the Mustangs lead 16-14 in shots. WNE was 1-1 on the power play, and SUNY Morrisville was 0-1 during the first. The score was 2-0 in favor of the Golden Bears.

Cameron Clark won the opening faceoff to get the second period of play started. The teams went back and forth with shots during the first few minutes of the second. The Golden Bears would then go on the power play 5:53 into the second period of play. The Golden Bears would send four shots toward the goal, but only two of them made it to Linville and were saved. The game saw more back-and-forth action after that, and then Matty Zdanowicz would hit the pipe on an opportunity with 8:47 left in the second. Shortly after that, with 8:19 left in the second, the Mustangs got one back with a goal by Colby Walters. Ryan Glazer set up the goal with a pass around the boards to Matteo DiBlasio, who stood at the top of the Mustang offensive zone. DiBlasio sent a shot past the goal that found its way to Walters on the left side of the net. Walters lifted the puck over the goalie's shoulder to cut the Mustang deficit in half. The Golden Bears led 2-1. 

The Golden Bears would answer quickly with a shot by Jimmy Mettler. Then, with 6:27 to play in the second, Nolan Dawson restored the two-goal lead for WNE. Josh Bliss got the puck to Justin Sullivan. Sullivan skated down the ice and left the puck for Dawson, who ripped a shot past the goalie and made the score 3-1, WNE. The Golden Bears would keep the pressure on with three shots on goal in a row. The Mustangs, however, would answer with their second goal of the night. The Golden Bears would try to clear the zone, but with 3:47 left in the second, the puck fell to Trevor Grasby at the top of the Golden Bears' defensive zone. Grasby settled the puck and sent a wrist shot through traffic and into the back of the net. The Golden Bears lead was cut back down to one. However, that lead was short-lived, as well. With 45 seconds remaining in the second period of play, Brayden Patricia sent the puck to Justin Sullivan in a scrum on the boards. Sullivan skated the puck into the WNE offensive zone and passed it up to Jimmy Mettler, who pushed it back to set up Sullivan with the goal. The Golden Bears' lead was back to two after two periods of play. Shots on goal during the second favored the Golden Bears 14-11. The Golden Bears had the sole power play of the second and did not score on it. The score was 4-2 WNE, with one period of play remaining.

Matt Dougherty got the opening faceoff win for the final period of play, and 50 seconds later, Schneider made the Golden Bear lead three. Matty Zdanowicz would skate the puck down the right side of the ice towards the SUNY Morrisville goal, send the puck across the ice to Schneider, who held the puck on the stick and gently flipped the puck past the goalie to make the score 5-2. 3:03 into the third, the Mustangs got a goal back. Andrew Manly sent a pass off the boards to Trevor Neumann. Neumann sent it to Ethan Henry, who sent it right past the goalie to make the score 5-3. The Golden Bears would answer 12 seconds later with a goal from Nolan Dawson. Dawson won the faceoff, got the puck back from Rais Francis, and sent the puck across the goal and it bounced into the back of the net. WNE regained the three-goal lead. That lead did not hold for long, as the Golden Bears were called for a penalty, and on the power play, Cameron Clark, would find Chris Mott on a few passes before Mott sent the puck past the goalie's shoulder on a wrist shot to make the score 6-4 only 4:34 into the third. After that goal, the scoring would settle down for a little while. That would be until the teams were each called for a penalty and skated 4-on-4. Owen Schmidt took advantage of the extra open ice by skating down the right side of the ice, toe-dragging around a defender, making a move on the goalie, and sending a backhand shot into the upper part of the net. The Golden Bears led 7-4. The teams went back and forth for the rest of the game. There were two penalties called on the Golden Bears and one on the Mustangs with just over a minute remaining in the game. The Mustangs had four shots with two on goal during their power play. Aureliano made the saves, and the game ended with the Golden Bears winning. Total shots on goal during the game favored the Golden Bears 40-39, with both teams having twelve shots on goal during the third period of play. The Mustangs had two power plays in the third, with one power play goal. The Golden Bears were 1-2 on the power play, and the Mustangs were 1-3 on the power play during the game. The final score was 7-4, Golden Bears.

Inside the Crease:

• The Golden Bears hosted the Mustangs of SUNY Morrisville.
• Everest Schneider scored the opening goal 5:49 into the first. Kyle Knight and Anthony Aureliano had the assists. 1-0 Golden Bears
• Sam Mitchell doubled the lead with a power play goal assisted by Rais Francis and Jake Mendeszoon 13:37 into the opening period of play. 2-0 Golden Bears.
• Colby Walters cut the WNE lead in half with a goal 11:41 into the second. Matteo DiBlasio and Ryan Glazer assisted the goal. 2-1 Golden Bears.
• At the 13:33 mark, Nolan Dawson scored the third goal of the night for the Golden Bears. Justin Sullivan and Josh Bliss were credited with the assists. 3-1 Golden Bears.
• Trevor Grasby scored for the Mustangs to cut the lead back down to one at the 16:13 mark of the second. The goal was unassisted, and the score was 3-2 Golden Bears.
• Justin Sullivan made the lead two again with a goal at the 19:15 mark of the second. The goal was assisted by Jimmy Mettler and Brayden Patricia. The score was 4-2 Golden Bears.
• 50 seconds into the third period of play, Everest Schneider made the lead three goals off an assist from Matty Zdanowicz. Golden Bears led 5-2.
• 3:03 into the third, Ethan Henry scored the Mustangs' third goal of the night. Andrew Manley and Trevor Neumann assisted the goal. Golden Bears led 5-3.
• 3:15 into the third, Nolan Dawson scored a second goal. Rais Francis had the assist. The Golden Bears led 6-3.
• 4:34 into the third, Chris Mott scored on an assist from Cameron Clark. The Golden Bears led 6-4. 
• Owen Schmidt would finish the scoring with a goal at the 9:32 mark in the third period of play. The goal was unassisted and made the score 7-4 Golden Bears.
• Grant Linville had 33 saves.
• Anthony Aureliano had 35 saves and earned the win.
• The Golden Bears won 7-4.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears will stay home for their next game as they host Post University at the Olympia Ice Center in West Springfield, Massachusetts. The game will be played on Tuesday, January 9, at noon.
• The Mustangs will travel to the Ralph Walker Skating Rink for their next game against Albertus Magnus College on Tuesday, January 9, at 5:00 PM.