Seahawks feast on Bison, upset Nichols 3-2

BURRILLVILLE, R.I. – The Salve Regina men's ice hockey team is on its way to the Eastern College Athletic Conference Northeast championship game for the first time in program history with its 3-2 upset win over No. 2 Nichols in the semifinals.

The host Bisons took a quick 2-0 lead in the first period, outshooting the Seahawks 18-9 in the opening frame. Senior Danny Greiner (Columbus, Ohio) received a pass from senior Zach Kohn (Delafield, Wis.)  and streaked down the ice for the 1-0 lead at 15:42 in the first period. Just over three minutes later, Kohn and sophomore Evan Jones (Farmington Hills, Mich.) helped setup a one-timer for junior Greg Strootman (Aston, Pa.) as the hosts claimed the 2-0 advantage.

Just as they have all season, the Seahawks fought back and sophomore John Scorcia (Hudson, Fla.) kicked off Salve Regina's remarkable comeback. Freshman Zakerie Thompson (Rochester, Mich.) took an initial shot that was blocked but ricocheted perfectly to Scorcia to send home his 11^th goal of the season and cut the Bison lead to 2-1 9:25 into the second period.

The Seahawks would not be satisfied with just one, however, as Scorcia set up junior Alex Barr (West Milford, N.J.) who found an opening on the blocker side and sent the puck home from the right circle to even the score at 2-2.

Salve Regina held the advantage in shots in the second frame, 13-9, and killed off Nichols only power play chance of the period.

Freshman Cameron Gaudet (Burlington, Mass.) took a feed from sophomore Michael Naso (Londonberry, N.H.) and junior David Watkins (Natick, Mass.) off a rebound to send the game-winning goal home 3:26 into the third period.

As good as good as the offense was for the Seahawks, freshman goalie David Chiokadze (Langhorne, Pa.) was crucial in the Seahawks victory. Nichols outshot Salve Regina 22-10 in the third period and Chiokadze made arguably one of the biggest stops of his young career with 3:30 left in the game as he turned away Strootman to keep the one goal lead. In the final five minutes of action, Chiokadze and the Seahawk defense hindered any scoring chance for the Bison. Over the waning minutes, Chiokadze turned away five shots while the defense kept the Bison at bay despite Nichols winning six of the final face offs.

Chiokadze made an incredible and career-high 47 saves in the net for Salve Regina while freshman Alex Larson (Madison, Ala.) stopped 29 shots in the loss for Nichols.

The last time the Seahawks made it past the quarterfinals was in 2002 when their season came to an end at the hands of Lebabnon Valley and tonight's victory was Salve Regina's first win over Nichols since 2004 when the Seahawks defeated the Bison, 7-1.

Salve Regina now advances to the championship game slated for Sunday, March 3 at 1 p.m. against Wenthworth Institute of Technology. The Leopards defeated Johnson & Wales, 4-1, in the other semifinals game this evening.