Springfield, Mass. (January 9, 2024) – After their 7-4 victory over SUNY Morrisville on Saturday night, the Golden Bears welcomed the Post University Eagles to the Olympia Ice Center for a Tuesday matinee matchup. The Eagles would jump out to a 1-0 lead after the first, then the Golden Bears would light the lamp five times to gain a commanding 5-1 lead after two and would put up one more goal before the end of the game to win the game 6-1. Sam Mitchell led the Golden Bears with two goals, and Shane Miller and Matt Dougherty had two assists each.

• Western New England: 4-8-2 (1-5-2)
• Post University: 2-11-1 (1-7-1)

How it Happened:

The Golden Bears and Eagles took to the ice for some matinee hockey at the Olympia Ice Center on Tuesday afternoon. With Drew Blodgett and Logan Palmer in net for the Eagles and Golden Bears, respectively, the puck was dropped, and the game got underway. Patrick Murphy won that opening faceoff for the Eagles. The Golden Bears had the first shot of the game, with Blodgett making the save. After two minutes of play, the Eagles went on the power play. They had eight shots with six shots on goal during the power play. Palmer made each save to keep the score even. Shortly after the killed penalty, the Eagles were called for a penalty, and the Golden Bears headed to the power play. The Golden Bears had three shots, with none being on goal. The teams would then go back and forth, trading shots with the goalies making save after save. That would take the teams to the 17:07 mark in the opening period of play, and the Eagles would be the first to strike with a goal. Parker Norling would give Ryan Cardow the puck on the right corner of the ice. Cardow sent a shot off another Eagle; the deflection would return to Cardow, who skated past the goalie and netted the first goal of the game. The Eagles had a 1-0 lead after a little over 17 minutes played. After a few shots from both teams and saves from both goalies, the opening period of play would come to an end. Shots on goal favored the Eagles 15-8, total shots favored the Eagles 26-16, both teams had a penalty and three blocked shots, and Post University had ten faceoff wins to the Golden Bears' five. The Eagles had a 1-0 lead going into the first intermission.

The second period of play started with Patrick Murphy winning the faceoff for the Eagles, and immediately, the Eagles took two shots on Palmer that were saved. WNE answered with six shots of their own, with one shot needing to be saved. The Eagles responded with five shots, and the teams went back and forth with shots and saves. 8:11 into the second period of play, Brayden Patricia tied the game at one goal per side. Benito Calvanese worked the puck up to Finn Bambery, who moved it along to Patricia, who snapped a wrist shot past the goalie to make the score 1-1. The Golden Bears started to roll after the goal with four of the next five shots. The fourth shot would be a goal from Justin Sullivan, with 9:02 remaining in the second. Shane Miller got the puck on the right side of the net and sent a pass to Matt Dougherty, who sent a shot at the net. Blodgett made the save, but the puck fell on the right side of the net for Sullivan, who quickly brought the puck around the pipe and pushed it into the net for the goal. The Golden Bears led 2-1. 

The teams returned to back-and-forth action, with Post University gaining more of the shot opportunities. Then, with 7:05 left in the second, both teams were called for penalties, and they skated 4-on-4 for two minutes. A little over a minute into the 4-on-4, Sam Mitchell scored his first of two goals on the day. Jake Mendeszoon would grab the puck after it flew out of the Golden Bear offensive zone. Mendeszoon skated the puck back into the zone and left it for Mitchell, who snapped a shot past the goalie to double the lead for WNE. It was 3-1, Golden Bears. Forty-five seconds later, the Golden Bears were up by three. Nolan Dawson sent the puck to Shane Miller, who skated and sent a shot at Blodgett, who made the initial save, but the puck bounced off the goalie, then off Sam Mitchell, and into the net for the goal. The Golden Bears were leading 4-1. The game went back to back-and-forth action until a penalty was called on the Eagles. Twenty-three seconds later, with 2:56 left in the second, Owen Schmidt scored to make the score 5-1. Kyle Knight passed the puck to Matt Dougherty down by the boards. Dougherty fed the puck across the crease to Schmidt, who pushed the puck into the net for the power play goal. Benjamin Cunneen would then enter as goalie for the Eagles. The Eagles answered the WNE goal with 11 of the next 12 shots to finish out the second. In the second period of play, Post had more shots on goal 20-15, more shots 31-28, more faceoffs won 19-15, and more penalties 2-1. WNE had more blocked shots 6-5, and more power play goals, 1-0. 

The final period of play started with Patrick Murphy winning the opening faceoff and then the Eagles having four shots in a row, with two being sent at Palmer, who made the saves. However, the Golden Bears would counter, and 3:39 into the final period of play, Rais Francis scored to give the Golden Bears a five-goal lead. Francis flipped the puck down the ice, where Sam Mitchell controlled it and sent it back to Francis, who fired it past the goalie to make the score 6-1. Soon after the goal, the Golden Bears were called for a penalty, and the Eagles had a power play opportunity. The Eagles tallied 11 shots with nine shots on goal. Palmer made each save to keep the Eagles at one goal. The teams returned to back-and-forth action until a penalty was called on each team, and the teams skated 4-on-4. Both teams had two shots, with Post University having one shot on Palmer, who made the save.

Then, WNE was called for a penalty, and the Eagles had a power play opportunity. The Eagles had four shots with one on goal, and Palmer made the save. The teams would finish up the game with a penalty for each team, and after a save by Palmer, the game finished with the Golden Bears winning 6-1. The final stats showed the Eagles having 50 shots on goal compared to the Golden Bears' 32. Post University outshot WNE 86-59. The Golden Bears were 1-2 on the power play, and the Eagles were 0-3. The Eagles won the faceoff battle 44-27, and the Golden Bears blocked more shots 14-10. The Golden Bears picked up their second win in a row with the 6-1 victory.

Inside the Crease:

• The Golden Bears took on the Post University Eagles at the Olympia Ice Center.
• Ryan Cardow scored the opening goal for the Eagles with 2:53 left in the first period of play. Parker Norling had the assist. Post led 1-0.
• Brayden Patricia evened the game at one goal per team with 11:49 left in the second period of play. Finn Bambery and Benito Calvanese were credited with the assists. The game was tied 1-1
• Justin Sullivan netted the go-ahead and game-winning goal for the Golden Bears with 9:02 remaining in the second. Matt Dougherty and Shane Miller had the assists. The Golden Bears led 2-1.
• Sam Mitchell scored the third Golden Bear goal with 6:02 left in the second. Jake Mendeszoon had the assist. The Golden Bears led 3-1.
• Sam Mitchell netted a second goal with 5:17 left in the second period of play. Shane Miller and Nolan Dawson assisted the goal. The score was 4-1, Golden Bears.
• Owen Schmidt potted the fifth goal of the second with 2:56 remaining to make the score 5-1, Golden Bears. Matt Dougherty and Kyle Knight had the assists.
• Rais Francis netted the sixth and final goal of the afternoon for the Golden Bears with 16:21 left in the game. Sam Mitchell had the assist to make the score 6-1, WNE.
• Drew Blodgett made 17 saves for the Eagles.
• Benjamin Cunneen made nine saves for the Eagles.
• Logan Palmer made 49 saves.
• The Golden Bears won 6-1.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears will go on the road for their next game as they travel to Cabot-Harman Ice Center in Middletown, R.I., for a CCC showdown with Salve Regina University. That game will be on Friday, January 12, at 7:00 PM.
• The Eagles will travel to C. Douglas Cairns Recreational Arena in Colchester, Vermont, for their next game against St. Michaels College. That game will be on Thursday, January 11, at 6:10 PM.