WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 25, 2025) – The Golden Bears hosted the Bison in a Saturday conference showdown. The Golden Bears would not find much luck in their home contest versus the Bison. The Bison scored three in the first frame, two in the second, and two in the third. The Golden Bears would net their lone goal in the third and fall to the Bison 7-1.

Records:

Western New England: 5-12-1 (1-9-1)

Nichols College: 8-8-2 (4-5-2)

How it Happened:

Anthony Aureliano and Nick Anderson led the Golden Bears and Bison onto the ice, respectively. The teams traded shots early before Rocco Bianculli scored an unassisted goal to give the Bison the lead 6:40 into the contest. Bianculli was able to get the puck on a breakaway and score. The Bison led 1-0. WNE had seven shots in a row after that and tried to find some momentum. However, the Bison were not phased, and they doubled their lead with 6:51 remaining in the opening frame. Luke Harvie passed the puck to Aidan Flynn towards the left corner of the goal. Flynn skated in and fired a shot past the goalie for the goal. The Bison led 2-0. The Bison then committed a penalty, but WNE only had one shot during their power play. WNE was called for a penalty shortly after their power play concluded, and it would take the Bison four power play shots to score. CJ Zezima fed Joey Allegrini with a pass, which was sent to Aaron Hamel, who scored. The Bison led 3-0 with less than a minute remaining in the opening frame. No more actions were recorded in the first period of play, and it ended with the Bison ahead of the Golden Bears 3-0. The Bison led 15-13 in shots, both teams had seven shots on goal and seven faceoff wins, and the Bison had more saves, 7-4, at the end of the first.

The Golden Bears would try to get back into the game with a few early shots in the second period of play, and a penalty called against the visiting team helped their cause. Three shots, all saved by the Bison goalie, was all the Golden Bears could conjure during the power play. Just under a minute later, the Golden Bears were called for a penalty. Soon after, the Bison were called for a penalty also, and the teams skated 4-on-4. Shots favored the Golden Bears 4-1 during that time. WNE had four more shots in a row before two from the Bison. Play continued back and forth before a penalty was called against WNE, and then a player from each team was given an interference penalty. With 4:09 remaining in the second, Jack Lee put the Bison up 4-0. Dimitri Voyatzis won a faceoff to Gabe Temple, who found Jack Lee with a pass, and Lee scored. The Bison earned another power play chance with 1:09 left in the second frame. Tristan Krimmen scored another power-play goal for the Bison with thirty-five seconds left in the second frame. CJ Zezima would have a shot blocked. Aaron Hamel would get the puck and find Kimmen, who scored and gave the Bison a 5-0 lead going into the second intermission. Each team had a player called for a penalty with six seconds remaining in the second, so the teams started 4-on-4 to start the final period of play. WNE led in shots 16-15 and shots on goal 9-6 during the second, but the Bison led 5-0 after two. The Bison won more faceoffs 14-9 and made more saves 9-4.

The third frame saw Luca Scaglione enter as goalie for WNE. WNE had the only two shots during the 4-on-4 play. The teams traded shots for a while before WNE was given a power play chance with 12:53 remaining in the contest. Less than a minute later, WNE was called for a penalty, and the teams were back to playing 4-on-4. The Bison had three shots during that time, and all three were from Zach Vandale. Vandale would skate in and have two quick shots saved by Scaglione before Vandale slapped a third shot into the net to give the Bison the 6-0 lead with 11:38 remaining. After a few shots from each team, WNE peppered Anderson with four shots in a row. The fourth shot saw WNE get on the scoreboard. Jake Mendeszoon found Matty Zdanowicz with a pass. Zdanowicz sent a shot off Anderson, and Mathew Fortin would collect the rebound and score. WNE trailed 6-1. The teams fought back and forth with the Golden Bears not giving up. They had a few shots, and then the Bison had a run of six shots in a row. They kept trading shots after that, and then, with 1:15 left in the contest, Josh Dickson skated down the ice and scored to wrap the game up for the Bison, 7-1. After four more WNE shots, the final horn sounded, and WNE lost 7-1. The final stats saw WNE outshoot the Bison 53-48, but WNE had less shots on goal 25-27. The Bison had more faceoff wins, 33-19, blocked shots 16-8 and saves 24-20.

Inside the Crease:

• The Golden Bears hosted the Bison on Saturday evening.
• 1st 6:40 – Rocco Bianculli scored an unassisted goal to give the Bison the 1-0 lead.
• 1st 13:09 – Aidan Flynn doubled the Bison lead off an assist from Luke Harvie. The Bison led 2-0.
• 1st 19:05.4 – Aaron Hamel tripled the Bison lead with a power play goal assisted by Joey Allegrini and CJ Zezima. The Bison led 3-0.
• 2nd 15:51 – Jack Lee gave the Bison the 4-0 lead with a power play goal off assists from Gabe Temple and Dimitri Voyatzis.
• 2nd 18:24.7 – Tristan Kimmen found the back of the net with a power play goal assisted by Aaron Hamel and CJ Zezima. The Bison led 5-0.
• 3rd 8:22 – Zach Vandale scored the unassisted goal to put the Bison up 6-0.
• 3rd 11:23 – Mathew Fortin scored the lone Golden Bear goal, assisted by Matty Zdanowicz and Jake Mendeszoon. The Bison led 6-1.
• 3rd 18:45 – Josh Dickson netted an unassisted goal to give the Bison the 7-1 lead.
• Anthony Aureliano made eight saves, and Luca Scaglione made 12 saves for the Golden Bears.
• Nick Anderson made 24 saves for the Bison.
• The Bison defeated the Golden Bears 7-1.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears will travel to Pawtucket, Rhode Island, for their next conference game versus Johnson & Wales University at 7:00 PM on Friday, January 31, 2025.
• The Bison will travel to Biddeford, Maine, for a conference clash with the University of New England at 7:00 PM on Friday, January 31, 2025.